Broken (Drarry Fic)
by TheDetachedScribe
Summary: Harry's opinion of Malfoy has always been negative. He's a spoilt, privileged pure blood who doesn't understand the concept of pain. However, what if he's wrong about that? After an encounter in the great hall at midnight, will their long standing feud come to an end, or will it only make things worse?
1. Chapter 1

A.N. Hello. So this is my first Drarry fic. It is set in sixth year and I hope you enjoy ?

Chapter 1

Rays of moonlight shine through the windowpanes, highlighting his thin, pale face; the colour of his lips are a faded pink, closer to white than red. Three large lashes are torn across the fabric of his shirt, revealing his broken skin, lying lifelessly  
/on the tiled ground in the pool of water that is now stained with a thick crimson. Water pats rhythmically against the ceramic sink, each drop echoing loudly in this dreadful silence.

A silence shattered by broken sobs.

FIngers shakily grip onto his wand as he hoarsely whispers incarnations. Useless. Tears roll down his cheeks as he desperately tries to mend the mess he created, his words soon dissolving into pointless apologies that he knows he can't hear yet continues  
/to repeat himself like a broken record. Over and over again. The blond doesn't respond, his hair matted with sweat and red as he wears the most ironically peaceful expression.

"Please..Please.." The boy sobs, his glasses cracked and abandoned less than a metre away from him, but even if he'd been wearing them, they'd be useless. His vision is blurred with tears.

"HELP!"

 **14th October 1996**

Sneaking around the school grounds in his invisibility cloak, Harry had his eyes cast down at the Marauder's map, making sure there was nobody tailing him or feet ahead of him. So far, the parchment remained bare of names apart from the two, foot-step-shaped  
/ink blotches that moved with the banner 'Harry Potter' above them.

Harry had been woken by another nightmare that night, the images of last summer's events still fresh in his mind. Bellatrix's cackles still echoed through his head, rattling his skull as he watched Sirius's dead expression fall through the veil, an  
/image which was now embedded in his mind, still able to feel Lupin's strong grip around his torso as Harry struggled furiously, crying out to his godfather. Voldemort's thin, pale lips curving into his sick twisted smile, telling him that he had  
/already won, having fooled the boy who lived, seconds away from quenching that strong thirst for revenge.

As Harry had woken up panting, a brief moment of panic had tightened his throat as he was unfamiliar with his surroundings, however, the soft snores of his roommates sent waves of relief, sighing as his heart continued to pound heavily, swallowing  
/thickly. He had tried to get back to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, those images would flash past the inside of his eyelids, as though they were engraved there, making it impossible for him to ignore. Finally, he had given up, reaching  
/for his glasses and invisibility cloak, hence resulting in where he was now.

There was one place Harry had felt strangely calm in, relaxed as he could allow his thoughts to unravel freely before him. The Great Hall. Yes, it was a rather bizarre location, one which no one would really expect (including harry himself) but the  
/night he got caught in the owlery by Mrs Norris, ('that bloody cat' according to Ron) and had to escape before Filch found him, he had decided that a cat who prowled around, knowing his usual location wasn't the most comforting thought, spoiling  
/his somewhat peaceful state. So he came across an unlocked great hall one evening and found it to be perfect.

When arriving at the door, he made sure to keep his footsteps as silent as possible, muttering alohomora under his breath and unlocking the door, carefully pushing it open. Once he created a crack wide enough, he slipped through, not bothering to

close it behind him, (assuming it'd make too much of a big noise).

The hall was bare, the only light being from the millions of enchanted stars that shone from above, slightly illuminating the empty, wooden tables. It always looked so strange, empty like he still wasn't used to it.

Walking in, he kept his cloak wrapped tightly around him, placing himself between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, which, without students, were now completely stripped bare of their identity. He lay himself down onto the stone floor, his father's  
/cloak draped over him and stared up at the beautifully enchanted sky.

Releasing a small sigh of content, Harry allowed himself to stare up, his thoughts absorbed by the countless twinkling stars that gleamed down onto the huge hall, never ceasing to amaze Harry.

It was a distraction. A simple distraction that would temporarily drag him away from the harsh reality he was forced to face, and it was those short moments of ignorant bliss that Harry treasured before his mind broke that trance, sobering thoughts  
/causing him to crash back down.

Caught up in his own small bubble, Harry didn't even hear the quiet creak of the huge wooden doors, nor did he hear the faint footsteps that tapped along the stone floor, coming to a halt a table away from him.

However, what did break him out of his trance wasn't his own thoughts, but the small sniffle that came a metre away from him. Heart leaping to his throat, he could feel his rib cage tremble with heavy pounds, a small burst of panic shooting through.

Shit..I'm going to get caught.. was his first initial thought, staying perfectly still. However, as he turned his head, the sight he was met with next shocked him more than the stars twinkling above him. Removing the cloak from his head, he called  
/out, his voice rasp, his tone confused and shocked.

"Malfoy?"

Draco Malfoy. A pureblood with the utmost pride, his name holding seemingly unconditional value, carried down to centuries and had been blessed to be entitled with the Malfoy/Black heritage. A Malfoy, whose only weakness was his own emotions, who

only interacted with people of his rich status, whose family were loyal to the Dark Lord…..whose father was sent to rot in Azkaban thanks to that Potter...

Draco Malfoy, who had been entrusted with the audacious task of murder to regain the pride his family had lost.

He was the chosen one. He had the mark to prove it and there was no going back now. So… why was he here?

Draco halted before the entrance of the great hall, teeth sinking into his lower lip as his fingers were tightly clutched around his silky, pyjama sleeve, swallowing thickly at the thought of what was hidden beneath the thin fabric. His previous attempts  
/were failing..he didn't know what else to do. A couple days ago, he had tried to complete this task, get it out of the way and done with so that he could gain You-Know-Who's loyalty and make his father proud. Yes..the look on his father's face  
/when he realised that his son was worthy and a true Malfoy was what motivated him. But of course, as per usual, bloody potter got in the way. Again. Sticking his nose in other people's business without a second thought. He could still hear snape's  
/patronising words as he saw him shortly after the Katie Bell incident.

"Your actions were foolish, Draco. Let me help you. You're too young to be dealing with this by yourself."

"No. This is my chance. I was chosen, not you."

The events were still fresh in mind, only causing anger to boil through his veins. Almost fuming, he released his sleeve, running a shaky hand through his hair, his fingers detangling the loose knots of his bright blond locks. Why did Snape doubt

him? He had always been behind Draco, getting in the way, protecting him as though he was Snape's child instead of his father's. He had always tried to upstage Lucius in every way possible, and now that he was in Azkaban, Snape was taking every  
/opportunity to do so. Although it was handy in the past, for he could've gotten what he wanted with ease, now it was just becoming a burden.

I'm sixteen now. I'm not a child. The Dark Lord wouldn't have chosen me if I wasn't capable. Placing his hand back over his forearm, he blindly traced the outline of the dark mark through his sleeve. It was a symbol of pride, of bravery. He had sat  
/through hours of agony to receive this, to prove that his family weren't a joke. They were practically a laughing stock when his father was sent to Azkaban. But once he succeeded, then he'd see who'd be laughing.

So why was he here? That was the question. If he was so capable of doing this, then why couldn't he sleep? It certainly wasn't the excitement, nor was it purely the anger he was faced with. No.. There was something else. Something darker..more chilling.

Fear.

No. Malfoys didn't feel fear, he had told himself, but he knew it wasn't true. He had failed twice. If he didn't do this quick…

He'd suffer. Him and his family.

He knew this more than anyone and right now, the fear of death was all he could think about, causing multiple sleepless nights.

Placing a hand on the door, he tried to push it open, to find that it already was. Maybe Filch forgot to lock it. He thought to himself before carefully walking in.

To his content, it was empty, closing the door slightly so that it wasn't left completely ajar, but still open so that heavy doors wouldn't slam shut. The hall had some sort of tranquillity, a place where he didn't have to worry as much. Laying down  
/between the two tables, he stared up at the sky.

What was he going to do? Everything he had tried, he hadn't succeeded and he knew You-Know-Who was growing even more impatient by the second. At this rate, he'd have to do it face to face but….He didn't think he could. He almost killed someone else.  
/Someone innocent which wasn't his intention at all. The thought struck fear in his heart, but the consequences of failing scared him even more. And there was no backing out of this now. He was stuck. If he didn't find a way soon….

Without even realising, warm tears rolled down his cheeks, his eyes widening at the sudden dampness, quickly wiping them away, sniffling. No. He was a Malfoy. Malfoys don't cry. It was a sign of weakness. He hadn't failed completely yet. He wasn't  
/weak. He had to do this. Whether he liked it or not.

"Malfoy?"

Eyes widening, Draco could feel his heart leap to his throat, almost choking at the terrifyingly familiar voice, but was too quiet, rasp, a tone he had never heard that voice address him with.

Turning his head, his eyes locked with the dimly lighted head through the benches of the tables.

"Potter.."

'Draco Malfoy'

The banner with two footstep-shaped ink blotches following jumped out at Harry as he stared down at the enchanted piece of parchment, hidden under his duvet with his wand illuminating the page. Clenching his jaw, he furrowed his eyebrows. What was  
/he up to now?

Earlier that day, he swore that the Katie Bell incident was because of him. It had to be. He saw him and yet even Ron and Hermione didn't completely believe him. He was up to something. What, he didn't know, but it wasn't good and he had to find out.

"Nox," he muttered under his breath, the small ball of light extinguishing. Folding up the parchment, he threw the covers off him, grabbing his invisibility cloak and ignoring his shoes. Everyone was still fast asleep, to his relief, as he snuck out  
/of the dorm, draping the cloak over him.

"Lumos" he whispered under the cloak, unfolding the map as he watched Malfoy, his own name now appearing as his footsteps lead out of the passageway from the common room. Heart beating steadily, Harry ignored the rough feeling of his bare feet against  
/the frozen, stone floor, his thoughts all revolved around Malfoy and only Malfoy.

He watched as his name walked from the dungeons and started travelling up the stairs. Furrowing his eyebrows, he pursed his lips and continued to follow, making sure to remain as quiet as possible, their names now drawing closer. Arriving at the stairs,  
/he didn't hesitate to run up them, noticing how much closer to Malfoy he was.

Almost got you..he thought to himself, arriving at the seventh floor. Making sure the cloak was still securely wrapped around him, he looked up from his map, biting down onto his tongue as he saw the painfully familiar blonde. Malfoy, he thought,

blood already beginning to boil with hatred.

Pacing up and down, Draco walked passed the door several times, muttering an incoherent phrase under his breath. Harry watched, holding his breath as he didn't want to get caught, straining to hear what Malfoy was saying? No...why was he outside the  
/room of requirement? If only he could just hear what kind of room he was requesting to appear...

Pale, shaky fingers grasped the door handle, a small hint of relief and satisfaction flashing across Draco's features as he pushed it open, Harry tiptoeing nearer so that he could slide past once Draco walked through.

Doing so, he slid through the crack, standing beside the door as the blonde closed it shut. His bare feet silently met with a smoother yet no less cold platform. Standing silently in his invisibility cloak, he watched as Malfoy walked a couple paces  
/before halting, his expression hidden in the darkness. The two remained frozen, Harry breathing faintly, afraid to give himself away. However, that didn't last long as he watched Malfoy take out his wand. Tightening his grip around his own, he  
/was ready to disarm him, to block any curse that came his way.

"Homenum Revelio." Harry heard him mutter, watching the Slytherin turn around. A faint light shone around him, his silhouette now visible. It was a harmless charm, however, what came after, Harry had a faint idea and it wasn't comforting.

"Didn't anyone teach you it was rude to sneak up on people?" He began his tone calm but his voice shaky, his wand rising towards Harry.

"Potter." Malfoy practically spat the name venomously, his expression twisted with hatred.

Pulling the cloak off of him, Harry revealed himself completely, although he clutched onto his wand, the small light that shone from the tip illuminating the entire room.

"Malfoy." He answered with an equal, if not more, amount of hatred. He didn't have time to look around the room, his attention now purely focused on the blond before him, his pale, pointed face gleaming in the soft light.

"What are you doing here?" Draco growled, breaking the silence between them.

"I could ask you the same." Harry retorted, his grip tightening around his wand.

"Potte-"

"I know it was you, Malfoy." The words rang throughout the room heavily, the tension between them rising. Harry could see the brief moment of panic and fear distort his features, before returning to their usual, blank expression.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. You gave her the necklace, didn't you." It wasn't a question. It was more of a statement.

It was a few seconds before Malfoy finally responded, gathering his words. "Who gives you the right to accuse me? Don't act as if you're innocent, Potter. Following students around the school, poking your nose into business that isn't yours.

You just can't seem to resist the danger and the fame, desperate to 'save the day'. I bet you love it, don't you? When the press is all over you." He began to step closer , unaware that the proximity between them was decreasing.

Harry clenched his jaw, his blood boiling. "Shut up. You know nothing-"

"What and you know everything?" Scoffing in disbelief, Draco lowered his wand slightly, shaking his head as he held back a somewhat amused chuckle. "See? That's the thing about you, Potter. You think that you know everything about everyone. That you're  
/entitled to. Well, time for a reality check. You don't have that right of passage." He snarled.

"No, but I don't need to have the right to know that you're up to something." He retorted in a low, dangerous tone.

"You go and mind your own business. Or are you muggle-loving, mudblood friends boring you and this is your new form of entertainment?" He mocked with an unpleasant smirk.

"Take that back!" Harry could feel himself begin to tremble with anger, pointing his wand further towards Draco. "Hermione and Ron are the best friends anyone could ask for. Not that you'd know anything about friendship."

"Shut it, Potter." He hissed, that comment wiping his smirk off his face. Now it was Harry's turn to smirk.

"What is it? Did I hit a soft spot? " he teased. "Not that I blame you. It must be hard having two goons who can't tell one end of a broomstick to another?"

"Leave." Draco firmly ordered, almost fuming.

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Why do you always need to know? You're always there. If I weren't mistaken, it'd seem like you're obsessed with me."

"Please. Don't flatter yourself. The only one who's obsessed here is you. You always go out of your way to make my life hell."

"Really?" He asked with a somewhat amused smirk. "Who followed who?"

The argument was still fresh in both of their minds. After Draco had asked him that question, Harry had simply turned around and left, muttering 'I'm not wasting my time with this' under his breath. Fighting back the urge to retort, Draco watched

him leave with relief, his heart still pounding with anger. God, he hated how potter got under his skin like that.

And the same could be said for Harry. After that, he couldn't stop thinking about it. He had told Ron and Hermione about it, but Hermione gave him a disapproving look.

"He has a point you know. I'm not siding with him, but his business isn't really yours. And besides. You should really be thinking more about your studies than Malfoy." He looked at Ron, hoping for some sort of relation between them, but Ron had bit  
/down on his lip hesitantly.

"You know I hate to admit it more than anyone, but Hermione's right, mate. Maybe you should leave this alone."

It had become this endless cycle of thinking. When he wasn't thinking about Malfoy, it was Sirius and when it wasn't Sirius, it was Malfoy.

But now he was face to face with Malfoy, having caught him crying. At first, he felt a twinge of sympathy but resisted the urge to reach out to him. He wanted to wish ill on him, to think that he deserved it.. Not so great when it's the other way

round.. He thought solemnly, frowning softly. Why he called out to him, though, he wasn't entirely sure.

"Are you..crying?" He asked as if to confirm his suspicion.

Looking away, he frustratedly wiped his eyes with his forearm. "No." he stubbornly said, although it was obvious he was.

"Really?"

Shooting him a dangerous glare, Harry was actually thankful for the poor lighting, not wanting to see the amount of hatred behind them. Little did he know that there was so much more.

"Why does it matter to you?" he snapped.

"Malfoy-"

"Go on then. Laugh. Mock me. Tell me how much I deserve this. Please. In fact, go and tell the entirety of Hogwarts. Tell them how you caught the almighty Slytherin, Draco Malfoy, crying alone. That makes a great story."

"I'm not going to."

"Just what I tho-" However he paused mid-way. "What?" Did he hear him correctly?

"I have nothing to gain by mocking you. I'm not like you, Malfoy."

Of course. Made much more sense. The thought of Potter caring almost made him sick. "You and your bloody Gryffindor pride.." he muttered under his breath.

"It has nothing to do with 'Gryffindor pride'." he retorted. "It's that I have better things to do than go around spreading rumours."

Rolling his eyes, he muttered a small 'whatever' under his breath, silence falling over them. The tension was thick, the once relaxing atmosphere having shattered

Neither of them said a word, trying to return to their own thoughts but constantly thinking of the figure through the tables and going back to bed wasn't an option for either of them.

Harry opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, unable to take the thick tension and lay in an awkward silence. At last, he broke it, however, the tension remained thick.

"So… how come you're here?" He asked, his question genuine, no hints if suspicion hidden in his tone.

To Harry's surprise, he didn't snap but answered civilly.

"Couldn't sleep. You?" It was a harmless question. He didn't have to go into detail.

"Same here." Silence fell upon them once again, but neither of them tried to talk. Their rivalry remained strong and Harry wasn't suddenly going to feel remorse for Draco but that was okay. Draco wouldn't have accepted it anyway.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, the two boys acted as though nothing happened, however it was all they could think about. Draco would go hot with humiliation every time he merely thought about the fact that Potter of all people saw him cry. And the only person  
other than him to experience this phenomenon, was his childhood friend Pansy Parkinson and that was when he was eight years old.

Harry, on the other hand, thought about the way they just lay there in silence, still shocked at the fact that Malfoy didn't immediately hex him as soon as he lay eyes on Harry. There is also the constant questioning as to why he was crying….and why the  
thought didn't cause him to laugh. Why did he feel that twinge of sympathy? It's natural. I'd feel that way towards anyone..was his explanation, and a perfectly reasonable one at that. He didn't tell anyone about that night, not even Ron and Hermione,  
knowing Ron would only laugh and spread the news round to everyone he laid eyes one while Hermione looked at Harry disapprovingly, shaking her head. Not to mention that telling them would only reinforce their stupid theory that was was obsessed. He  
wasn't obsessed.

"Who followed who?"

The words repeated continuously like a broken record.

"Harry?"

Yes, he followed Malfoy, but only to find out what was going on. There was no hidden intention behind it. He wouldn't be surprised if he was doing something for Voldemort.

"Harry."

In fact, he was convinced.

"Harry!" Jumping slightly, he found himself to be sat at the great hall, surrounded by all his house mates. Blinking away his day-dream like state, he turned to Hermione.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay? You look really out of it." She asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Not to mention that you were staring" He heard Seamus say with a chuckle.

"What? At what?"

"Who." Hermione corrected as she opened her book. Harry turned his head back to where Seamus pointed, his eyes locking with a hufflepuff who was talking to her friends before glancing over to harry, giggling and giving him a wink. Eyes widening,  
he returned a nervous smile before looking away.

"Who's that?" Ron asked with his mouth stuffed with food.

Shaking his head, Harry shrugged. "I have no idea." He admitted honestly.

"Then why were you staring?" Seamus continued to tease.

"Lost in thought." He said dismissively, grabbing his goblet of pumpkin juice and talking a large sip. However, Seamus was still clearly unconvinced, looking at him with a 'that's-what-they-all-say' kind of look. Rolling his eyes, Harry looked  
past his goblet, his eyes wandering to where he was staring, noticing that a few tables behind the girl was the blonde he had been thinking of, looking almost as exhausted as Harry, barely touching his food or talking to anyone. Surely Harry wasn't  
staring at him...right?

"Ow!" he exclaimed as he felt something hit his arm, almost spilling his pumpkin juice. Placing the goblet back down, he rubbed his arm, glaring at Hermione in disbelief. "What was that for?"

"It's rude to stare." she stated before returning to her book, earning a few sniggers, Ron raising an eyebrow amusedly.

"No idea, eh?" Harry shot ron a playful glare, earning a few laughs,

"Come on, guys. Leave Harry alone." Neville spoke as he was finishing up his herbology homework last minute. In the end, the conversation had shifted from Harry to Quidditch, a topic which easily distracted Harry, Malfoy no longer in mind.

The day went relatively smoothly...well..up until potions class; that was when everything began to fall apart. Multiples of Slytherins and Gryffindors streamed into the dungeon, sitting at their divided tables, red on one side, green on the other. It  
was fair to say that this was by far Harry's least favourite lesson. Not only was it with the Slytherins, but with Professor Snape.

As though the thought had summoned him, a familiar cold voice sounded from the opposite side of the room, demanding silence. The chatter extinguished as soon as his presence was noticed, strolling to the front of his classroom, his elegant black cloak  
following. "Open your books and turn to page five-hundred and twenty six." He ordered as he picked up a piece of chalk and started scribbling on the black chalk board. " Today, we're going to be learning about healing potions. Now.  
Can anyone tell me-"

"Ugh I hate potions…" Ron muttered as he opened his book.

"Mr Potter. No talking whilst I'm speaking. Ten points from gryffindor!" Snape snapped as he turned from the board to glare at Harry.

Eyes widening, Harry's jaw dropped slightly. "What? But I didn-"

"Another ten points for answering back." Harry groaned as well as the rest of the gryffindors, sitting back in his seat.

"Sir! It wasn't even Harry's faul-"

"Mr. Weasly. I suggest you close your mouth before I hex it shut."

He went silent. Unbelievably unfair. Both boys had to prevent themselves from muttering profanities under their breaths.

"As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, can someone tell me what eels' eyes are used for?" As usual, Hermione put her hand up before he had even finished the question. Snape's eyes casted over to Draco but the blonde simply rested  
his chin in the palm of his hand, his grey eyes glazed over in thought, not paying attention.

"Mr Malfoy." With a frustrated sigh, Hermione's hand fell to her side, Draco's head snapping up at Snape with a look absent of interest. "Perhaps you could care to tell me what eel's eyes are used for."

"A catalyst." He answered without missing a beat, as though it was common knowledge.

"With which ingredient is it used best with?" Harry noticed something was sightly off. Usually, the rare times Snape ever picked on Draco, his eyes would light up with pride and a kind of admiration. However, at that moment, it looked like he  
was merely testing him, waiting for him to mess up in front of all his housemates. Or maybe that was just because he was so used to Snape picking on himself, he had grown to assume it'd be the same with everyone else.

"Ginger roots." Again, without missing a beat. His tone was monotonous, his expression void of anticipation.

"An explanation."

Sighing, Draco sat up, straightening up as he prepared to answer the following question. "When used together, the ginger roots combine with the vitreous gel in the eye, which contains magic to speed up the reaction. As ginger roots don't have an  
extremely strong source of energy, collisions within particles are less likely to happen. However, the vitreous gel is used to bind the particles in a more efficient way, hence speeding up the reaction. Eel's eyes don't have the same impact on any  
other ingredient."

There was a cheer from the Slytherin table, the Gryffindors scowling at them. However, Harry couldn't help but feel shocked at Draco's seemingly flawless explanation. He caught a small smile/smirk of satisfaction, glancing over at Harry and catching his  
eye briefly. He didn't sneer or widen his smirk or even scowl. His expression remained the same. Harry masked his shock with a slight scowl, turning away and facing the front. It was strange…

The hostility wasn't nearly as apparent.

He did notice, however, the way Malfoy rose and eyebrow at Snape, his smirk widening as if to challenge him

"And can you tell me what the purpose of ginger roots are?"

"They are used in many healing potions so to combine eel's eyes with the potion would decrease the time it takes to heal someone." Another cheer as Snape nodded.

They weren't the most difficult questions in the world, (according to hermione) but they weren't easy either. Over thinking things again He reminded himself.

"20 points to Slytherin." Snape awarded. "Mr Malfoy was in fact correct. Ginger roots work best with eel's eye, and today, you will all be using eel's eye to create healing potions."

"Git.." Ron muttered which caused Harry to snicker.

"Mr Potter." Shit...Harry cursed himself. Great. Now there'll be detention.

"Usually I'd award you with a detention for being arrogant enough to laugh in my class."

"I didn-"

"Another ten points from Gryffindor for answering back." He interrupted, straightening up and looking around the classroom before a smirk crawled onto his lips. "But clearly they don't do anything to improve your behaviour. So today, you're  
going to be working with Mr Malfoy."

What?

"What?" Harry's mouth gaped open in disbelief before looking over to the Slytherin's table, Malfoy now alert with his eyes wide with protest.

"Twenty points." Groans and cried of protests erupted from the Gryffindors as they knew that meant twenty points off and not awarded.

"Silence!" Reluctantly, everyone obliged. "Maybe when watching a skilled student, you might learn a thing or two." Snape's lips curled into a smirk, Harry shooting a back dangerous glare. "Everyone else, you may begin!" There  
was a rustle of students getting up, the chattering returning within a matter of seconds.

"Holy shit mate...I'm so so sorry." Ron apologised sincerely as he looked from Malfoy and back to Harry. Harry didn't blame him, for he knew how genuinely sorry Ron was.

"It'll be fine. You don't have to talk to him. Just rise above his insults and ignore him when you don't have to acknowledge him." Hermione told him before her and Ron went to work together.

Looking over to Malfoy, Harry sighed deeply before grabbing his textbook and reluctantly traipsing over to him. Draco glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye, scowling as he approached him. Clearly, Malfoy was as enthusiastic about this as Harry was.

The two stood in an awkward silence, both looking away and avoiding each other's gaze.

"Had to go run your mouth, now didn't you Potter." he muttered frustratedly.

"It's not my fault. I didn't think he'd put me with you." Harry mumbled annoyed.

"You think this is only a punishment for you?" Draco rose an eyebrow as he folded his arms, his chest pushed out slightly, his blonde hair brushed back naturally. Now Harry was closer, he could see the dark rings under his eyes a lot clearer.  
They were practically engraved. It was almost disturbing.

His question caused Harry to frown, confused. Snape punishing Draco? It shouldn't have mattered but the idea seemed so off. Draco loved Snape and Snape would never even consider punishing Draco. Malfoy had only spoken to answer flawlessly, nor had he  
insulted Harry and stirred trouble. Come to think of it, he hadn't done that in a while. Something is going on...but what..

"Why would Snape-" but was cut off by Draco waving him off in a dismissive manner, rolling his eyes.

"Let's just get this over and done with." He said, clearly not wanting Harry to finish that trail of thought. Turning away, he walked to their cauldron, Harry reluctantly following as he bit down on his lower lip.

"But I don't understand. You're the 'Slytherin Prince'. Why would Snape-"

"Prince, now am I? That's a new one." Draco said with a smug smirk, looking back at Harry. He was avoiding the question. It was obvious. God, how is his face so punchable? Harry thought to himself, clenching his jaw in frustration. Everyone  
couldn't help but stare at the two, just waiting for their conversation to break out into a huge fight/duel. If they were going to stare, they could've at least made it less obvious.

"Just answer the damned question." Harry snapped, losing the short patience he had with Malfoy.

"Why?" The blonde suddenly stopped, whipping round to face Harry in a quick, swift motion. Harry's eyes widened as he leaned back slightly. . The two were now very close, their faces inches away, Harry's gaze hardening as he stared right back  
at Malfoy.

"Well, I'm waiting." but when Harry had tried to think of something, nothing came up. An annoying voice in the back of his head was telling him that Malfoy was right. Hermione was right. Ron was right. Who followed who? Was he really obsessed?  
No. No he wasn't. He ignored all of those voices, one cold, smooth one slicing right through the others.

"Exactly." Malfoy replied in a low, smug tone, his eyes shining with victory. Taking a step back, he turned back around, Harry wanting to scream in frustration. The tension in the classroom only grew thicker, everyone hesitantly returning to  
conversation, half focused on the pair.

That was a close one. Draco thought, inwardly sighing with relief. Opening his textbook, he tried to distract his mind, trying not to think about the fact that Potter saw him cry still remained inscripted in stone. Surely he won't...No. He's too much  
of a gryffindor to do anything. The thought reassured him, gathering ingredients for the potion.

Harry leant against the surface of their table, his fingers drumming on the desk rhymically. Draco Malfoy. What was he hiding? Harry noticed how absorbing his thoughts of him were becoming. Not one day passed when he wasn't thinking of the blonde and  
he couldn't understand why this suspicion took up his attention so much more than it did the last few years. Probably because he wasn't most likely working for Lord Voldemort..but the thing was, he father definitely was hence making it likely he was  
too. Now it was all he could think about..

"Potter. Pass me the shrivelfigs."

Snapped out of his thoughts, Harry looked over to Malfoy, half dazed. "Sorry. What was that?"

Huffing exasperatedly, Malfoy grabbed a jar filled with small, purple figs, taking three out.

"God...How you passed your O. will remain a mystery to everyone." He stated shamelessly. Although Harry thought the same (mainly because his fifth year was so fucked up) that didn't mean it was okay for Malfoy to say it.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I'm sorry. Was a tinsy bit busy last year. Had a few minor issues so I could only revise for six hours instead of seven." Harry retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Ah yes. Because famous Harry Potter is the only one who has it hard. You weren't the only one, Potter." Malfoy drawled.

"Really now? Because if I remember distinctly, and please. Do correct me if I'm wrong, you had the time to make all those badges, become Umbridge's pet, expose DA. And your father certainly had the time to-"

"Shut up." Draco growled viciously, his cool demeanour slowly crumbling. Anger was pulsing through both of their veins, Harry becoming absolutely furious, emotions and resentment towards everything that happened last year surfacing. "Don't  
you dare." the blonde warned.

"Hah!" Harry laughed. It was so amusing, seeing how Draco reacted when someone crossed the boundaries. Funny how he does it all the time. "What are you going to do? Go tell on me? With who? It's not like he can hear about it." Harry  
knew he had taken a step over the line, but frankly he didn't care. Built up rage was radiating off of him, his fists clenched tightly. Malfoy was the same, his jaw clenched so tightly, the risk that it might snap didn't seem so farfetched.

"You incompetent git." His voice trembled as he spoke, making sure to keep it low so that Snape couldn't hear their argument. He was already in enough trouble as it was. "It's your fault he's behind those fucking bars in the first place."

"My fault?!" Harry exclaimed, causing heads to turn, the room falling into a tense, shocked silence. This was it. The moment that was building up, ready to snap, the moment everyone was waiting for. A few galleons had been sneakily passed around,  
most people having made bets as to how long they thought Harry and Draco would last working together without fighting. "It's my fault your father chose to be a fucking death eater, now is it?"

"I'm not discussing this with you of all people, Potter." Draco snarled through gritted teeth. But Harry didn't stop. Too much pent up rage was beginning to leak out of the bottle Harry had tightly sealed for the last few months, and Malfoy  
was now the subject to this wrath. It was his father's fault Sirius was dead. All his fault. His and Belatrix's. If they never existed, he'd still be alive. He'd still be alive...

"Your father is a cruel vile man. He deserves to be where he is!"

"Shut up!" Draco exclaimed, drawing out his wand. Multiple gasps were sounded, a few backing away.

"Harry-" Hermione began but Draco interrupted her.

"Don't you dare speak about him in that way. You have no right to insult him with that foul, half-blood mouth of yours. At least my father didn't knock up a whore, hence being the only reason I'm alive."

Eyes widening in fury, Harry took out his wand. "How fucking dare you." He could see as Malfoy began to regain some of his superiority, smirking as he knew he hit where it hurt. He loved to see how Harry's eyes lit up with rage, in a way that  
only he himself could cause.

"What? You and I both know it's the truth. And what use is defending them if they're dead? It's not like they can thank you any time soon."

Harry remained silent before growling, "I wonder how long it'll take before you understand. At the rate things are going, I'm assuming not long."

"Langlock!" A white light suddenly burst out of Draco's wand, causing Harry to stumble back a little. Gasps were heard from all around, Hermione shoving past the crowd and rushing to Harry, Ron following and shooting Malfoy a dangerous glare.

"What the fuck did you do?!" He exclaimed as Malfoy lowered his wand with a smug expression.

"Why don't you go ask him?" He simply said as he put his wand away, Ron looking as though he was about to blow a fuse.

"What's going on here?" A cold, slow voice was suddenly present, causing everyone to stiffen, including Malfoy.

Harry shot a glare at Malfoy.

"He fucking tried to curse me!" He explained, outraged.

What really came out was complete gibberish, his words forming into muffled mumbles, eyes widening as he finally realised his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. Laughter erupted from the Slytherins, cutting through the tension. Harry's cheeks  
heated up with embarrassment, furious. He saved his ass! He didn't go around telling people that he was crying like a baby the night before, and then he has the nerve to go out of his way to humiliate him. Why did I feel sympathy for you? I should've  
laughed..

With a flick of his wand, Snape undid the curse, Harry able to speak again. "You son of a-"

"Mr Potter. I just gave you back the ability to talk. Do not make me regret it." Harry closed his mouth but he was still fuming,

"10 points from Slytherin. I will not have disputes in my class, Mr Malfoy."

"Yes sir." Malfoy said, his voice low, avoiding eye contact from everyone, especially Potter.

"And you, Mr Potter." Snape turned to face Harry, a smirk on his lips. "20 points from Gryffindor and detention for the rest of the week. For Mr Malfoy to attack you, there must've been some reason for it." Eyes widening, his knuckles  
whitened as he clenched them tighter. Groans of annoyance sounded yet again but nobody blamed Harry. Everyone knew Snape had it out for him. It was probably the reason why he put the two together in the first place.

Suddenly, the bell dismissing the lesson sounded through the halls and classroom, Snape dismissing the class with a wave of his hand.

Packing up his things, Draco bit down on his lower lip, contemplating as to whether or not he should talk to Harry. At this rate, their 'little secret' was threateningly close to be spilt. He could see the anger and somewhat betrayal in his eyes. What?  
Just because he agreed not to tell anyone, they were now friends? The thought amused him, causing a small smirk to play on his lips. He should've kept his mouth shut if he didn't want to be humiliated. And the way his face darkened with fury was definitely  
amusing. Oh how he missed getting a rise out of the boy who lived.

Just about to leave, Draco halted as he heard Snape's voice.

"Malfoy."

"Yes sir?" Turning around, he mentally cursed. Probably another lecture. He hated these.

"What did you think you were doing?" He hissed, swaying his cloak out of his way so that he could walk to Draco, a look of anger on his features.

"He doesn't know when to close his mouth so I taught him a lesson."

"You kno-" However, when looking up, Draco could tell he spotted something, turning around to look, but by the time he did, Snape had already gotten to the door, closing it shut.

Harry mentally panicked as he thought Snape spotted him, keeping hidden amongst the shadows as he watched him close his door. Something suspicious was going on. He knew it and although he had been wrong about them countless years before, something bad  
was going to happen and they were going to be either involved or behind it. 


	3. Chapter 3

The events leading up to Harry's detention were more eventful than the boy could've imagined. The three were currently in the common room, Harry sitting on the carpet floor with his back leaning against the sofa. The other two, having listened to most  
of the argument during that lesson, were sitting on the couch, arguing themselves.

"This is the guy who uses 'mudblood' as a nickname for you, Hermione. How many times have you heard Malfoy insult both Harry's parents as well as my entire family? At least everything Harry said was true!" Ron exclaimed, not able to believe  
they were even considering whether Malfoy was in the right or not.

"That doesn't matter. Harry shouldn't have risen to it. I agree that what Malfoy said was horrible but Harry was the one to start it."

Ron just stared at her for a couple seconds before pinching the bridge of his nose. "You know, you're really making me wonder whether or not you were even there. He bloody cursed him, Hermione. Don't tell me you've already forgotten." Ron asked  
in disbelief, taking a deep breath.

"But some of the things Harry said..he was descending to his kind of level when it comes to their disputes. He struck what was most sensitive."

"Like Malfoy never does that."

"I'm not saying that. I'm say-"

"Why are you even defending him, Hermione? He's-"

"I'm not defending him!"

"Yes you are!"

"No, I'm not. I'm jus-" The argument between them continued as Harry stared right ahead of him at the flickering flames of the fire. His knees were clutched loosely to his chest, rolling his eyes at their pointless argument. Yes, he knew Hermione  
kind of had a point but frankly he agreed with Ron a lot more and Hermione backing up Malfoy frustrated him as well Ron.

"Guys..Just..leave it. If you want to blame someone, blame Snape. He was the one who put us together in the first place." He spoke with a sigh.

"Yeah. He knew they'd fight which gave him an excuse to give Harry detention." Ron agreed.

"True but-"

"Oh don't tell me you're going to defend Snape as well." Ron groaned.

"No. I wasn't going to do anything of the sort." Hermione snapped. "I was just thinking. What still confuses me is the fact that Malfoy didn't jump to humiliate you right away. It took a while before he finally snapped." Both  
Harry and Ron exchanged a small, reluctant glance at the fact Hermione had a point. So Harry must've pushed him pretty far. Serves him right..he thought, pushing the guilt away.  
'You think this is only a punishment for you?'

The words had suddenly come to mind, his eyes widening. How could he have forgotten?

"Guys. I've remembered something." Harry started, biting down on his lower lip.

Hermione and Ron turned to him expectantly.

"Before we started working, he said something about this lesson being a punishment for both of us."

"Both of you?"

"Snape punishing Malfoy? Please. He loves that slytherin pillock so much, it's kinda disturbing." Ron remarked, his face twisting in disgust.

"But if it wasn't true then why would he make it up?" Hermione through aloud, earning a small shrug from Harry.

"I don't know. I tried to ask him but he simply avoided the question...I mean, I noticed that Snape had held him back after class and he didn't look happy. It's funny. You'd think he's be jumping for joy at the fact that I was cursed not to speak."  
Letting out a small sigh, Harry readjusted the grip around his knees, watching the hot sparks of glowing wood flake before crumbling to ash. Something wasn't right. He could just sense it, like a gut feeling in his stomach. He knew something bad was  
going on and close to approaching however he knew that ever since Voldemort's return; now it felt more real, the danger closer...and Malfoy just had to have something to do with it. Maybe that's why Snape was punishing him; because he knew. He knew  
what he was doing was wrong. Harry might've hated him but Dumbledore clearly trusted him for a reason. Which would explain Draco's hesitance to tell him. He was working for Voldemort..! Had he already become a death eater? No...he's too young..right?

"Harry..Stop.." Hermione's voice broke through his 'daydream' like state, shards of thought scattered around him. Eyebrows furrowed once he processed her words. What was he doing?

"Stop what? I'm no-"

"You're still convinced they're up to something." Was he that easy to read?

"Convinced? They are, Hermione. Or at least Malfoy is," Ron muttered a small 'here we go again', sighing. Harry ignored him. "I'm not being delusional."

"Come on Hermione." Ron began tiredly. This argument was getting old. "I can understand why Harry's suspicious. I mean-"

"Yes but Ron. You have to agree. It's always Malfoy and Snape and when it isn't one of them, it's both. Always. Lucius Malfoy is in Azkaban and although I hate Malfoy as much as you two do-" Ron let out a small scoff of disbelief, "-it  
must be difficult for him without his father. Perhaps Snape was just unimpressed by how poorly he's performing in class. He was number one after all."

"What do you mean 'poorly'? He answers that question practically flawlessly." Harry contradicted. Hermione simple rolled her eyes.

"That gives him an even larger reason to be unimpressed. He can do a lot better in class and he clearly knows everything but his grades are still lacking."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"I overheard pansy scolding him for a low grade he got in an assignment."

"Yes but maybe that's because he did so awfully that not even Snape's favouritism can boost his grade." Ron contradicted but Hermione simply shook her head.

"I don't think it was purely favouritism that brought him those high grades, Ron." She admitted reluctantly.

There was a small silence between the three, Harry dwelling on Hermione's words. She still refused to believe him.  
Was she saying he was overreacting? He knew he had been wrong before but even back then Hermione and Ron would always agree and stick by his side. It wasn't just Hermione though. Ron too. He could tell that even he was getting sick of it. They probably  
assumed it was some sick obsession linked to his grieving or maybe to do with the fact that Voldemort was back. They also probably assumed that those were the reasons why he was being 'overly suspicious'.

"You think I'm being paranoid." He spoke, cutting through the thick silence.

"No..Harry. That's not-" .

"Yes you do." Harry interrupted, anger beginning to surface. "Look, Hermione. I already had to live through an entire year where I knew Voldemort-" Ron flinched subtly, "-was back and no one believed a word that came out of my  
mouth."

"I know that, Harry, but this is different. Back then, you knew for certain."

"I know for certain now!"

"Do you really?"

"Yes!" The word escaped before he even thought about it. Biting down on his lower lip, he refused to think about it, knowing that his thoughts would immediately dulge right into Hermione's words causing him to doubt what he knew. But do you  
really know? That annoying voice spoke out, causing his hands to roll up into fists.

Hermione must've noticed the doubt in his mind because she sighed. "Come on, Harry. Even you have to admit it's…"

"What?" Harry demanded.

"It's...becoming excessive." And that's when he snapped, when the monster burst out of it's cage, frustration escalating to fury.

"Excessive? Excessive?!" He repeated, not able to believe his ears. Suddenly, he found himself standing before the two, outraged. "When the entire wizarding world is in jeopardy and lives are lost because nobody would fucking listen-"

"Mate.."

"Let me finish goddamn it!"

"Can you stop yelling?!"

"Yelling? Oh is that getting excessive too?!"

"Yeah! Yeah it is! You're always bloody shouting!"

"If you're sick of it, then you might as well get Malfoy to shut me up!"

"At the moment, that idea doesn't seem too bad!"

"Fine then!"

"Fine!"

"Fine! Harry furiously shouted before storming out of the common room. His fists were clenched so tightly, his knuckles paled as he paced through the portrait of the fat lady, ignoring her cries of how rude he was and how she was asleep and he woke  
her up ecetera ecetera….

This was just wonderful. Was it even possible for this day to get any worse? Oh yes. How could he forget? Detention with Snape next. Just the perfect cherry on the top to everything and who did Harry have to blame?

Malfoy. Of course because it was always bloody Malfoy. It was his fault his friends were more distant, his fault Harry was alone, his fault Sirius was dead. All. His. Fault!

Harry's blood was boiling, fuming as he desperately wanted to scream out in anger and release his frustration and fury and sorrow and thousands of other emotions he couldn't describe; the bottle he was concealing the, in began to crack, emotions shining  
through. He just wanted to crawl in a ball, disappear from this world, be free of the constant pressure against his lungs with each breath, free of the ache in his heart that only grew with each step, free of the lump in his throat that swelled as  
each second passed. He wanted to be free of this constant suffering.

Wishful thinking.

Pausing abruptly, he took a huge, deep breath, his fingers trembling as he released his fists. Running them through his hair, he knew he had to calm down. It wasn't easy though. Leaning against the wall, his rushing thoughts began to gradually simmer,  
closing his eyes tightly shut as his chest heaved in and out.

Calm..down..He told himself as his breathing slowed as well as his heart, blocking out the entire world for those brief minutes. As the red mist finally cleared, clogs gradually powered up again, thoughts popping up in a more rational view. In reality,  
it wasn't any of Malfoy's fault. In fact, he began to understand why his friends thought he was being irrational. Even he thought he was being irrational once mulling over Hermione's words in a more understanding perspective. She did have valid points  
but...he wasn't obsessed...right?

Groaning into his hands, another fresh wave of guilt washed over him. He shouldn't have shouted bt it was difficult..He hadn't felt this alone for a while. It was the thought that no matter what happened, Ron and/or Hermione would be by his side to defend  
him...and now...he wasn't even sure how long that'll last. He understood that he was currently a lot to put up with and the more he thought about his 'conspiracies' the less certain he became about them. He could just go to dumbledore but he had nothing  
to back up his point with. Just the fact that 'he had a bad feeling' wouldn't be enough.

Taking out his wand, he muttered a small incantation under his breath, two lines glowing gold, the large hand pointing to the numeral numbers 'II', the small one pointing to 'VIII'. He was late to detention. Great. Snape..Just who I need..

With a wave of his wand, the golden hands disappeared as Harry exhaled a deep sigh. Time for detention.

It must've been midnight when Harry was finally let out. It wasn't as bad as he presumed it to be, mainly because he managed to discharge his anger through scrubbing away the potion residue hardened at the bottom of the caldrons. Although it wasn't great  
that Snape was watching his every move, finishing three caldrons brought some sort of satisfaction, leaving them as good as new. The fact that he didn't hate it, granted him an internal victory. Now he felt strangely calmer and tired.

Over those hours, he mulled over everything that happened, from finding Draco in the great hall up to his recent fight with Hermione and Ron. Something so pointless as well. He really didn't need to lash out like that but it was getting harder and harder  
to keep emotions to himself...but there was no one he could really vent them out to.

Not anymore.

The halls were now dark, unlit torches hung along the stone walls, the corridors deserted. His footsteps echoed as he walked to the exit of the dungeons. He never liked it down there. It was dreary and cold and he was more than happy to be getting back  
to his dorm. No sneaking around the grounds tonight. He just wanted to sleep..that was if his mind let him. He wondered how much sleep he'd get before nightmares crawled their way back into his subconscious. Just one night...He hoped as he climbed  
up the stairs and entered the main section of the school, walking through the open corridors, the autumn breeze causing a subtle shiver to go up his spine. The courtyard and pillars were bathed in the moonlight, the scenery monochromic. Pausing for  
a second, Harry stared out into the open, staring at the stone, closed doors that remained locked at night. Calm and peaceful were words that came to mind. Usually, the dark was associated with danger but the exposing moonlight tamed those suspicions.  
Those fears.

He was so lost in his own spiral of thought, that he didn't notice the blonde drawing closer, only aware once he felt something nudge against his arm followed by a grumble.

"What…Oh potter. It's only you." Malfoy dismissed tiredly with a wave of his hand before running his fingers through his hair.

Pausing, Harry simply stated at the blonde, surprised he hasn't received a snap of annoyance.

"Malfoy..are you..alright?" He asked cautiously, frowning softly as he looked at the blonde.

Looking up at him, the blonde's expression became unreadable before he looked back down, the shadow of his lips twisting into a crooked smile before he began to chuckle darkly. Chuckles soon escalated into laughter, Malfoy throwing his head back as his  
manic laughs echoed through the empty halls.

Taken aback by this, Harry's eyes widened as he was at a lost for words, frozen. His laughter sounded so broken, like the idea of being okay was so out of his world, it was amusing.

Unsure what to do, Harry tilted his head slightly with furrowed eyebrows as he watched Malfoy laugh. "I should probably go…" He stated, frowning as he began to walk past Malfoy. However, he only managed to walk one pace before feeling slender  
fingers suddenly grab his bicep to stop him from leaving, laughter seizing, silence falling. Jaw clenching, he turned his head to demand for him to explain what he was doing, to let him go; he remained silent, the sight swallowing all his words.

The halls remained empty, the pale moonlight from the late, autumn evening shining onto the concrete surface. Draco's moonshadow stretched leanly down the corridor, his still clearly pale face masked with darkness, his silhouette hunched before the magnificent,  
full moon. His blonde hair appeared a dark grey, strands loosely hanging before his eyes. Silver gaze fixated on the ground, his aristocratic features were sharpened, his expression unreadable. His thin lips looked darker in this light, no smirk,  
no sneer visible, the laughter having vanished from his features.

It made Harry uncomfortable seeing Malfoy like this. It wasn't the malfoy he always saw. The Malfoy he knew was full of pride, cocky, arrogant; This Malfoy was serious, afraid, unpredictable...He could feel the Slytherin's fingers tremble unsteadily as  
they relentlessly gripped onto his arm, clearly reluctant to let go.

"Malfoy.."

The blonde's sharp gaze flickered from the ground and up to Harry, his expression still unreadable. Straightening up, his gaze settled for Harry's, silver orbs piercing into his own. It was intimidating, to Harry's annoyance, however he couldn't move,  
refusing to be the first one to break this silent staring contest.

However, the blonde then leaned in, Harry's eyes widening in a brief moment of panic and next thing he knew, he could feel Draco's warm breath fan against the shell of his ear.

"Okay...would be you noticing me when I wanted to be noticed and you ignoring me when I wanted to be ignored."

"What are you.." He couldn't understand why he was acting like this. Why his personality had suddenly flipped, why he was whispering these kind of things in his ear. Noticing him when he wanted to be noticed? What…

And then one particular stench caused everything to snap into place. He could smell the firewhiskey in his breath from this proximity. He was drunk.

"Malfoy. You're drunk..aren't you...come on. We should really get you back to your-" The blonde's grip tightened almost painfully, Harry able to faintly feel the outline of Draco's fingernails through the fabric of his sleeve.

"Don't pretend to care..it'll only make this more..more painful.." Suddenly, his grip loosened, fingers falling down Harry's sleeve as Malfoy lost balance, able to hear the distinct thump before Harry could even do anything. Eyes widening in  
shock, all thoughts were broken and dissolved by one thought and one thought only.

The sight of Malfoy's body collapsed on the ground. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Malfoy?" Harry called out, his eyes widening as he stared at the blonde before him. "Malfoy!" Kneeling down, Harry tried to shake him awake. Nothing. Shit..he mentally cursed before holding his ear to his lips as he waited, heart  
pounding, breath seizing, panic rising before… 

A soft warm breath faintly grazed his ear like a small, absent sigh.

Releasing his breath, his stomach squirmed in relief, the pressure forced upon his heart released. He didn't even hesitate as he tried to pick up Malfoy's unconscious body from the ground. Carefully, he slid one hand under his back, lifting it from the  
ground before looping his arm underneath his legs, groaning as he rose from his knees. Letting out a small content sigh, he adjusted his hands slightly, making sure the position was comfortable enough for both of them. That's when he noticed; he was  
light.

Too light.

He could feel the boninees of his legs that slacked against the baggy fabric of his trousers. His fingers could easily trace his spine that stuck out through the cotton of his sweater vest.

Was it really this bad? Was he really in such a state that he wasn't eating properly? Don't act as if you're just noticing this now..he thought to himself, real worry settling in. 

He wasn't okay and the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became. The signs became clearer, his timidness, his withstanding silence and yet Harry concluded that he was up to something. He wasn't. He was just depressed.

But the Katy Bell incident….That annoying voice of doubt spoke up yet again. I never saw him..I assumed. It was out of context. He seems so resigned...Most of the time, that was. There was only one thing that brought Draco back to his usual self and that  
was when they fought. 

When they fought, Harry saw the life come back to his eyes just for those few moments, silver glistening with anticipation; an anticipation that faded as soon as Harry's friends stepped in and prevented them from killing each other. This was something  
that only Harry was capable of doing. Only he was capable to light that fire in his eyes, a fire he loved and hated all at once. A fire he reluctantly missed.

But now those eyes were covered by his pale eyelids, dark bags darker than he remembered. Harry did take the poor lighting into account but that didn't make them disappear. He looked so vulnerably beautiful, something so bittersweet, something Harry couldn't  
describe.

Beautiful… 

That word wasn't strong enough. He wasn't even going to deny it. 

Where was all this coming from? It was no longer than a few hours ago that he wanted to strangle and choke the slytherin into oblivion and now he was calling him beautiful? Feeling pity? No not pity..Sympathy perhaps. No, that wasn't it either.

A small feeling of movement pulled him out of his spiral of thoughts, realizing from the tiredness of his arms that he had been standing there for quite a while and hadn't bothered to get help. His body froze at the threat of Malfoy waking up, staring  
down at him as his expression scrunched up slightly. It took a lot for Harry not to drop him as he was wriggling uncomfortably in his hold.

"Wha…?" He began to murmur, his eyelids cracking open slightly, Malfoy squinting through them. "Potter? What are you…" It was impossible to miss the way his eyes widened in realisation and shock.

Silence. 

Harry knew he should've said something, his heart pounding, knowing that standing in a dark, empty corridor holding Malfoy in arms for god knows how long without getting any help was probably not the easiest situation to explain. However, his tongue went  
numb, unable to get anything out.

Malfoy didn't do anything to break the silence, his stormy grey eye staring up at him, almost curiously but clouded with hundred of other emotions Harry couldn't read; a look which was so complex.

"Malfoy.. 's not-"

"Potter. Let me go." His calm, cold tone broke through, shattering Harry's sentence into shards of lost word. Swallowing thickly, he nodded, lowering himself and sliding his arms away from underneath his legs, his fingers lifting from  
his spine once the blonde was upright.

Stepping back, Harry was grateful for the darkness for hiding the blush of embarrassment that dusted his cheeks. Biting down on his lower lip, he watched as the blonde ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply.

"I..um...S-sorry. I'll just.." Harry didn't even bother to finish his sentence, ready to turn on his heel and walk away.

"Why the sudden interest?" Pausing, Harry turned to see Malfoy with his hand held out in front of him, inspecting his nails.

"I'm sorry?"

His sharp gaze that Harry could fall so easily into met his own, hand falling down to his side before walking closer and closer, Harry stepping back further and further.

"You heard me. Why the sudden interest? I told you before, didn't I? Just when I don't want you to notice me, I'm suddenly the most interesting person in your world." Harry took another step, panic rising as he felt his back fall against the  
wall, the slytherin now mere centimetres away. He could hear his heart pound in his ears yet felt it lodged in his throat. He was suddenly very nervous. 

"I-I.."

"Don't stutter, Potter." Their gazes remained locked, Harry's cheeks heating up against the cool, gentle hand now placed against one of them. He could feel the slender fingers slide past his ear to the back of his neck. He could feel them thread  
through the back of his unruly locks, sending an electrifying shiver down his spine. Subtly, Malfoy drew their faces closer together, his hot breath against Harry's lips...so close...so unbelievably close and yet…Harry was so reluctant to pull away.

"It makes you look stupider than usual." Malfoy murmured against his lips before locking them with his own. Harry's eyes fluttered shut as he tasted the sweetness of them, melting as their lips danced with utter ease. They were so soft, so warm  
and Harry made no move to pull away. Kissing him back was almost like instinct, a deep longing finally being fulfilled. He wanted to freeze this moment in time, to never pull away. To stay like this for as long as possible… 

Blinking, Harry found himself still gazing at the blonde's body that lay limply in his arms, eyes still hidden, lips still pale. 

How long had he been standing there? Ache exploded throughout his heart, his grip on Malfoy tightening slightly.

I'm slowly losing it...The last thing I need is to be fantasizing.. Without a moment's hesitation, Harry began to briskly walk to the infirmary, making sure he took all the correct routes not to get caught. Especially by Flinch. All those years of sneaking  
around the school grounds hadn't gone to waste, managing to arrive at the infirmary without any disruptions. Sighing deeply, he tapped the door with his foot. A small part of him felt guilty for waking Madam Pomfrey but most of his thoughts were centered  
around his worry for Malfoy.

He could hear the rustling behind the door, watching as the door handle turned to reveal the matron squinting at the two tiredly. Stands of grey hair messily stuck out from the base of her nightcap, her wrinkled fingers wrapped around the handle of her  
candle holder. Her face was illuminated by the small flame, blinking away her tiredness.

"What in great heavens is going on here?" She huffed but it was clear Harry didn't need to answer her. Her eyes widened as she saw Malfoy in his arms. "Say no more Mr Potter." 

Harry handed Malfoy over to her. "You know, you really shouldn't be up this late." She managed to scold as she took him from his arms. Harry knew from the look on her face that Malfoy was going to be eating a lot more. 

"Now off to bed. No need to look like that. He'll be fine." She reassured him. Was his worry that evident? 

"Thank you, Madam Pomfr-" But before he could finish, he received a door to his face.

Sighing softly, Harry turned and walked back to his dorm, running his fingers through his hair. So much for an 'early night'. He thought to himself as he ran over his encounter with Malfoy countless times. His words rang in his head, still able to feel  
the ghost of his fingers gripping his bicep. Not to mention he was imagining them kissing which was so far out of the question he… well he…

He had no other explanation other than the fact that he was losing his mind. None. Why he suddenly considered him to be beautiful, he didn't know. Perhaps it was the fact that he was knocked out. That's always a pleasant image when it comes to Malfoy.  
He thought amusingly to himself. Yes. It made sense. Just because he was an asshole didn't make him any less attractive. He was a good looking guy. Nothing cryptic about that. However, that still didn't explain why his heart ached every time  
he thought about Draco's bizarre confession; it didn't explain why he wanted to grab him and kiss him just to see if it was nearly as wonderful as he imagined…

Already at his dorm, Harry began to change into his pyjamas, his mind still racing. 

I just need to let him be...he slid under his covers. That's what he wants, isn't it? But he looks so goddamn miserable all the time...Removing his glasses, Harry pulled the duvet over himself.

I thought he was up to something but...is he? No. He is. He has to be,

 **1:00 AM**

 _It'd make sense that he'd want to finish what his father began to do and why he was in the room of requirement...Damn...I still don't know. Yes. He's up to something. A drunk Malfoy isn't an innocent Malfoy. He may be a kind of cute Malfoy..NO. Harry. Stop. Why was he up so late anyways?_

 **2:00 AM**

 _Does he even want to be a death eater? Maybe that's the real reason behind his misery. If he is working for Voldemort, then he must be a death eater. And death eater's have the...the mark! Oh god I could've checked for the mark but nooo! I just stood there like a fucking idiot and imagined snogging him instead. Idiot. Idiot. Idio-_

 **3:00 AM**

 _Why am I like this? What even is this life I'm living?_

 **4:00 AM**

 _Couldn't they have thought of something more creative? 'The Boy Who Lived'. It's not a very original title. It's like calling a sacked teacher 'The Professor Who was Fired' or an astronaut 'Man Who Went To Space'. The same goes for 'Chosen One'. I never asked to be the Chosen One. Am I even the chosen one to start off with?_

 **5:00 AM**

 _I'm not very straight am I… Well neither is Malfoy. Clearly. He practically confessed to me. 'Didn't notice him when he wanted to be noticed..' That's what he meant, didn't he? No of course not. Keep dreaming, 'Gay Potter'. Maybe that should be my new nickname. 'The Wizard who turned out to be gay'._

 **6:00 AM**

 _I miss Sirius.. Why did he have to go? Why couldn't I just have thought or just listened to everyone before setting out to 'save the day'? All I did was kill him. It's my fault. If he were still here, I could've written to him instead of driving myself insane. I'm so sorry Sirius…_

 **7:00 AM**

"Harry!"

Eyes shooting open, Harry sat up boltright, his heart pounding.

"Wha...what?" Clutching onto his head confused, he buried his face in his hands. "What time is it?" He croaked.

"It's eight. We thought you'd come down for breakfast earlier but when we found you still weren't here, I came to wake you up. Say did you and Ron have a fight because he seemed-" The strong, irish tone of Seamus's voice began to fade, darkness  
sweeping over Harry as his head fell forward, his body yearning for sleep.

"Harry!"

"I'm up. I'm up." He broke back into consciousness, grabbing his glasses and blinking a few times before standing up with a small struggle.

Seamus's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Harry. "Merlin, Harry. Did you get any sleep?"

Gathering up his robes, Harry began to tiredly undress himself, shaking his head.

"I don't even remember falling asleep.." he admitted, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Well, I'm sure some good food will help you there. Although, you might want to hurry up if you want to sort things out with you and Ron." He stated, giving Harry a small smile.

"Yeah..thanks…" He mumbled as he began to button up his shirt.

"I'll give you some privacy. You british lot are quite big on that." He teased with a light chuckle before leaving.

Harry came down about ten minutes later. How he managed to even leave his dorm room without collapsing and falling asleep on the carpet ground, he had no idea. As he walked in, a few heads turned although Harry didn't quite catch the expressions of confusion  
everyone was wearing. It wasn't until he sat down with Hermione and Ron that something was pointed out to him. 

"Oh. Look who's decided t- holy shit. Did you drown or something?" Ron's eyes widened as he leaned forward to get a better look at Harry.

"Harry?! Good god. Did Snape keep you up all night?" Hermione exclaimed as she saw Harry. Tiredly looking over to his friends, Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"I'm really sorry.." He apologised tiredly, yawning softly. "I shouldn't have…" Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his goblet and took a sip of the sweet pumpkin juice, the sweet, energy enhancing drink waking him up a little. "I  
shouldn't have lost it and I know I over reacted. It's just I'm so fucking tired and...Jesus christ.." He mumbled, his head pounding with tiredness.

"Listen Harry. Just eat something. We can talk later, right Ron? Ron." Hermione urged. Ron scowled slightly and mumbled a small 'yeah whatever..'

Draco woke up to a blurry blank ceiling, furrowing his brows. A brief wave a panic washed through him as he couldn't recognise where he was before looking around the room, noticing the multiple other empty, plain beds and the healing potions cabinet hidden  
in the corner.

The infirmary.

What was he doing in here? How did he- 

His thoughts were cut off by the throbbing in his head, nails being harshly hammered into the inner shell of his skull. Closing his eyes, he groaned lowly, clutching his head and tiredly rubbing his hands over his face as he lay on his back.  
/

"Glad to see you're up."

The voice caused Draco's heart to leap and pound, his eyes widening and suddenly removing his hands from his face to reveal the matron searching through the cupboards.

"Madam Pomfrey.." The raspiness of his voice shocked him, clearing his throat before closing his eyes shut again. It hurt to see. He didn't even bother to sit up, knowing it'd only cause him pain. He also knew that it'd only be a matter of time  
before his dreary state wore off and memories of last night would come flooding back. But right now, he wanted Madam Pomfrey to hurry up with that damn draught.

"No use complaining. It's your own fault for drinking on an empty stomach, not to mention that you are way to young to be drinking firewhiskey." She scolded as she paced over to him, placing a potion bottle on his desk. 

Firewhiskey..? "How did you.."

"You might as well have bathed yourself in it, dear."

"I don't.." 

"Hurry up and drink. I don't want you to be spending too much time in here. Knowing you, you'd go insane." She stated. She isn't wrong..He thought to himself, the thought triggering memories from that summer.

'Summer of '88'.

No. Now wasn't the time to think of that. Doing as he was told, Draco obliged and sat himself up, wincing at the stiffness of his body. He took the bottle filled with a crystal blue liquid. Cork screwing off with ease, the sweet smell of ginger and lemon  
wafted to his nose, his tongue already able to predict the taste. Not wasting anymore time, Draco gulped down the entire potion, his face scrunching up slightly at the sharp sourness and spice, shuddering lightly. Placing the bottle back on his bedside,  
he slid back under the covers, the comfortable warmth welcoming him.

"You should feel lucky that I won't report this to Professor Dumbledore. Mr Potter was worried enough as it was. Turned out he got no sleep last night, poor boy." She continued to ramble to herself, Draco half listening. It took a few seconds  
before he finally processed what she said.

"Potter?" He rasped, turning his body around to face her, confused. "What..Why would he b-" But he immediately cut himself, memories flooding back unwillingly, eyes widening as a humiliated blush rose to his cheeks.

"Why, he came here at god knows what time, carrying you in his arms. I don't think I've seen him so worried. He's a brave one. Not much worries him except when it comes to other people. So selfless as well." Her rambling continues but most of  
it faded as Draco covered his face in embarrassment, remembering too well what happened. Did I really confess to Potter? He thought worriedly, wanting a black abyss to swallow him whole and never let him out.

No..It'll be fine..He's too oblivious to read through the lines...hopefully..That was the only comforting thought. What about when he was let out? Rumours would be spreading, especially since Potter was obviously so bloody tired (according to Madam Pomfrey)  
people will think they're joining up the dots. And if Potter tells everyone what happened… 

Calm the fuck down. It'll be okay..

But every time he thought that to himself, contradicting thoughts outweighed that lie massively. He still hadn't accomplished what he had to. You-Know-Who was getting impatient. His father was still in Azkaban. His mother was home alone and worried and..

"Don't tell my mother. Please." He croaked, lifting the cover from his face and giving her a pleading look. 

"MrMalfoy.."

"Please. She's worried enough as it is. You know, with what happened with father and everything." It wasn't a lie but it wasn't the entire truth either. Luckily for him, lying in general was never an issue.

Madam Pomfrey stared at Draco before smiling warmly.

"My lips are sealed, Mr Malfoy. Under one condition."

Uh oh.

"No more firewhiskey and eat." She said firmly.

"Sorry?" Draco asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Eat?" 

"Yes. Don't act like you know nothing. You're unbelievably thin and look so pale. You haven't been eating properly. 

"Okay.."Draco trailed off. He should've been expecting it. Now he was going to leave the infirmary stuffed like a teddy bear.

"Oh yes. And one more thing."

Draco rolled his eyes. She was really milking this. "Yes?"

"I want you to thank Mr Potter for bringing you here. He didn't have to do that you know." Draco's eyes widened before he shook his head.

"No. No way in hell." He stubbornly answered. "With all due respect, miss, I have no intention on seeing Potter after this incident." Don't ask why. Don't. Ask. Why.

"Why?" _Bloody witch._ "Aren't you two becoming a bit too old for this rivalry? Maybe this act was a peace offering." But Draco refused to agree to this.

"It's a lot more complicated than that."

"Fine. But I do not appreciate my patients being selfish. The least you could do to that boy is thank him. Doesn't have to be in person. Just let him know."

"Madam Pomfrey-" Draco tried to intervene but she kept talking.

"If you haven't thanked him by the end of the week, I will write to your mother."


	5. Chapter 5

ADraco left the ward later that day, his anxieties piling up one after the other. First, it was to get the job done which he was struggling with. Actually, struggling was an understatement (however he would never admit it to snape)

Secondly, it was the fact that Madam Pomfrey or Potter could've seen his dark mark, a realisation that dawned on him after he had properly woken up. She hadn't mentioned it and he hadn't been visited by Dumbledore or the press. Surely potter would've  
/checked though or was he too distracted and worried, as Madam pomfrey put it, trying to help him of all people? The thought was too amusing. The boy was convinced Draco was a death eater. As if he'd take the time to help. He was becoming

too interfering.

Which lead to the 'thirdly' of his situation. To thank potter otherwise the letter telling his mother that her son spends the evenings getting foolishly drunk would be sent. At the moment, what should've been the least of his problems, became the

worst. And all because of Potter.

But wait a minute. Why couldn't he just lie his way out of it? He was put in Slytherin after all. Well, to answer that question simply, Madam Pomfrey took care of that to Draco's frustration.

A simple timer, as she put it. With a flick of her wand, runes hovered before them, arranging themselves in a sequence before branding themselves around draco's slender wrist. He could still remember the way they glowed a subtle gold beforefading  
away. Branding him..

Basically, every day, it was going to give Draco a small warning by glowing once every two hours at first, going from green to yellow then red. If by Sunday at the stroke of midnight, he hadn't completed the set task (in this case thanking potter),  
/Madam Pomfrey's wand would get the alert and there goes that letter.

It sounded like something from the storybooks his mother used to read to him as well as the story books that kept him company during….

I have enough worries as it is. I don't need to go start thinking about that.

How he was going to be able to do it, he didn't know. Weasel and Mudblood hung around him like flies constantly and no way was he going to bring up what happened in front of them. Snape kept him in detention every night so no 'bumping' into him during  
/midnight strolls. Apparently letters didn't count so that was out of the question. Perhaps he could lead him on...maybe act suspicious and rise curiosity within him…

So much effort for something so small. So pointless. Something that shouldn't have even happened in the first place. All because Potter didn't know how to mind his own business.

'Okay would be you noticing me when I wanted to be noticed and you ignoring me when I wanted to be ignored'

Those words spun repeatedly like a broken record, arousing feelings of shame, embarrassment and most of all, bafflement. Why did he say that? What was that confession?! He hadn't thought about Potter in that….way for a while.

'Don't pretend to care..it'll only make this more..more painful..'

No. He was done with those feelings of hurt and rejection. He was done trying to get his attention. He needed to focus and just when he had come to the conclusion that he was wasting his time, Potter is suddenly interested in him? For all the wrongreasons  
though.. The thought was poignant, his heart aching unwillingly. And then he had the nerve to take him to the hospital ward as if he cared.. The more he thought about it, the more hostile he became.

"Draco." The voice was sharp, harsh, collected, feminine, Blinking a couple times, the world around him began to mold back into its original form. Book shelves began to grow from the ground, blurry students becoming more focused and refined. 

He became aware of the chair he was sitting in, the thin, tickly feeling of his quill that slipped into his grip with ease. The silence accompanying his thoughts faded with the absent chatter. 

Library.

"Draco! Hello?" Fingers snapped in front of his face impatiently, causing him to blink a couple times before noticing Pansy.

"I heard you the first time." He drawled, slipping into his facade.

"Did you really? Because I've asked you more than once to stop that with your fingers."

"Stop what?" But as he looked down, his question was answered. As he lifted his free hand, he revealed nail marks that were engraved into the oak wood of the desks. Drumming his fingers had become a habit of his recently, usually when he

was frustrated about something. Had Potter really worked him so much that he damaged the tables? I need help..

"Finally. It was driving me to the brink of insanity." Huffing, the girl returned to her book.

Pansy Parkinson.

Relatively attractive to some. Hideous to others. Blaise had manage to compare her to a bulldog and he could see why. The squashed nose, the flat face.. However, the fact that neither Blaise nor Draco were attracted to girls in general didn't maketheir  
opinion as valid as let's say heterosexuals. Or lesbians. However, the effort was there and Draco had to give her that. She always made sure her makeup was perfectly applied. Her dark bob of hair was always neatly brushed with the greenheadband  
that was never an angleout of place. And she teased Draco for caring about his appearance.

The rumours of her and Draco were relentless. Not many people knew about Draco's sexual orientation and by not many, he meant no one apart from himself, Pansy and Blaise. It was a secret they kept amongst the three of them, homosexuality being frowned  
upon in the wizarding community, especially amongst pure bloods.

It was that need to carry out the family blood line and that wasn't easy if your partner was someone you couldn't reproduce with. Not to mention the decrease in status, the stereotypes about how homosexuals were attackers, perverted..

If anyone found out about Blaise and in particular, Draco, then he could say goodbye to feeling safe in his own dorm room.

So the solution was what any rational teenagers would do:

Create a fake love triangle between two 'straight' guysand a girl. Of course Pansy was the one to come up with the idea for not only was she a sucker for teenageangst, butthe concept of being fawned over was something she couldn't get  
enough of.

But it worked. To the entire school, it seemed likeDraco and Pansy were constantly on and off and when off, she'd go to Blaise, the boy who'd try to win her over permanently instead of being a back up. When Blaise heard of this arrangement, he was  
not happy. But what else was he to do?

Besides, it was amusing to listen to the rumours people created out of overheating a 'private' conversation between Pansy and Millicent Bulstrode who, although she swore on her mother's life, could not keep a secret for more than five minutes. Everyone  
knew this. Including Pansy.

Especially Pansy.

However, as well as hilarious, the thought was repulsive. Pansy was a childhood friend. The mere thought of a relationship further than friends sickened both of them.

The two sat in a comfortable silence, Draco reading through his potions book (light reading) but couldn't concentrate for he could feel Pansy's gaze set on him.

Not lifting his eyes from his book, he casually said, "I know I'm the living embodiment of beauty but if you want a photo, just ask."

"Don't flatter yourself, dear. If I want a photo, it'd be of well slept, sober, handsome Draco." She teased with a smirk, earning a light scowl from her blonde companion.

"What do you want?" He asked agitatedly, looking back down to his book.

"You're more out of it than usual."

"Well, as you already know, I'm suffering from what many call a 'hangover' or 'overdose of alcohol'. I'll let you join the dots." He stated as he turned a page of his book. Then came the sigh and Draco knew very well what was coming.

"I know you're suffering Dray-"

"I never took you for a sap, Pansy."

"Oh ha ha. I'm being serious."

"Can we not discuss this now?"

"When else can we discuss it?"

She was right there. The library was the best place for these types of conversations. Both Pansy and Draco knew that. The Slytherin common room couldn't be trusted considering that blackmail material would be exposed to Slytherins who would have no  
/trouble using it. The library however, was diverse. You could easily disappear into a book or have a conversation where no one would bother trying to figure what about. Annoyingly making this the perfect time for the conversation Draco wanted

to avoid.

"Did she see it?"

"Not that I know of." He answered, biting down on his lower lip and looking away.

"How did you even manage to get there and not receive a detention or anything?"

"I slipped."

"That's not even an excuse." She snapped. "Come on. If you're going to lie, make it convincing."

All she got in return was a simple eye roll.

"I know things have been tough without your father."

"You think?" This was so pointless. He didn't need this patronizing lecture.

"Let me finish, for Merlin's sake." She huffed, getting frustrated. "I know you say you don't need help and trust me. I won't force it down your throat. But this drinking problem...it's consuming you. It's dangerous. You don't think

when you're drunk."

"Maybe that's why I do it."

Pansy scowled. " You were lucky this time. Next time, you could end up banging on Dumbledore's door to tell him about your 'great plan'." She warned and although he didn't want to admit it, he knew she was right.

Sighing softly, he looked up from his book to meet pansy's gaze. She was worried. He knew he was responsible for that. Worrying so many people. Didn't they find it tiring? Caring?

"Look. Don't you think I know that already Pansy?"

"If you become that drunk again, the next time you 'won't be thinking', you'll be a corpse." She warned. He could tell she was getting angrier.

"Temper temper, darling. No need to start a commotion. People come here to study." He told her in a slow, patronising tone, wearing a smirk for he knew she'd only get more frustrated and that way, drop the subject.

"I know what you're doing, Dray Dray." Cringing, he saw the victorious smile take place across her lips.

"Besides. I can't promise you I won't do it again. A genius's mind gets loud from time to time." He told her before going back to his book. This earned an amused scoff mixed with disgust.

"Well, genius, next time, don't get so pissed, you end up seducing Potter."

What?

His eyes widened in shock before looking up at Pansy who smirked and got up. Walking over to one of the shelves, she grabbed one of the books from the shelves and glanced through the gap she created. What was she doing?

"Pansy-" He stopped himself as she placed a finger on her lips and gestured for him to come over. Rolling his eyes for the hundredth time, he got up and walked over to her.

"What are you-" But a finger was placed on his lips, stopping him from speaking as she nodded her head towards the gap in the bookshelves. Furrowing his eyebrows, he pushed her finger away before he looked through, heart halting as soon

as he spotted him.

Potter and his friends. The grand, golden trio. Except, Potter looked exhausted and his friends seemed to only be annoying him.

"Apparently, he's been like this all day. No one knows why." Pansy whispered in his ear as he looked through.

"Really.." He whispered, mainly to himself. The three seemed to be discussing something but to Draco, it looked like Harry couldn't care less.

"I wonder why he's so tired. Hmm. He looks pretty distracted too. Oh. I especially wonder what he's writing too." Pansy commentated in his ear and frankly, it resembled the buzzing of an annoying fly.

"Can you shut up?" He hissed, turning to her, their faces too close to each other. She just smirked as always.

"I'm giving you clues. Look at what he's writing."

Draco reluctantly turned back to the tiny gap, peaking through. It was impossible to see but from where he was, he was simply scribbling.

"He's writing nothing. Pansy." He commented as she quietly sniggered, finding this to beutterly frustrating. " Stop it. You keep adding pointless things to your dumb conspiracy theories. This isn't that novel of yours." He whispered

harshly before looking back.

"What?" He could practically feel the heat radiating off of her cheeks. "Where..How..Draco. How on earth did you find out about that?" She furiously whispered.

"I'm not in slytherin for my amazing good looks, although it must've contributed." He whispered back, his eyes still on Potter.

"I swear to god, Draco. You can never just mind your business can you?"

"That's rich coming from you. Now shut up. I want to hear what they're saying." He whispered, holding onto the shelf and peaking through. He really looked exhausted. Not his usual, attractive self...and yes he didn't even bother to contradict

himself. Potter was a good looking guy, wether he hated him or not.

"Snape….late….early…" He watched Granger's lips move as he heard only a few words.

"...late strolls….worried….sorry…" That was the blood-traitor.

"...tired...don't care…. Sleep…." Scarhead. God, they nagged. He almost felt bad for Potter.

He could only catch snippets of their conversation, as well as attempting to lip read.

"What are they saying?" Her warm breath tickled his ear. Pushing her away, he shushed her. "Let me see." Huffing, he struggled to stay upright as she tried to nudge past him.

"For fucks sake." Draco cursed as she pushed him completely off, watching her peak through.

"It's my turn anyway." Running his fingers through his hair, he tapped his foot down impatiently. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Good Merlin. I don't believe my eyes and ears." She gasped, immediately grasping Draco's curiosity.

"What? What's happening?"

"Granger and Potter are snogging." She said with a disgusted yet amused expression.

Draco's face flushed, whether it were anger or embarrassment, he didn't know, but the idea of that Mudblood as much as laying a finger on him made him angry beyond belief.

"How dare she. That stupid, muggle born.." Grabbing another book, a couple away from where pansy was peaking, he looked through the gap, hoping that none of this was happening.

To his luck, nothing. No signs of anyone kissing anyone, the three just talking and working and Pansy snickering from not too far away,

Clenching his jaw, he reached over to her and shoved her, absolutely furious. "Why would you say that?" He growled as she fell back laughing.

"Your...your face," she gasped between laughs, "Made it all worth it." She was almost on the floor.

"Ugh. I hate you so much." He huffed, looking back through the gap.

"We both know that's code for 'I love you more than anything." Pansy smugly stated, taking a deep breath as she calmed down and focused her attention on the trio. The two remained silent as they strained their ears to listen.

"I see that now but…" Potter sighed. "It's hard to explain."

"Come on, Harry. You never tell us anything." Weasel whined.

"Wise if you ask me.." Pansy whispered, earning a 'shh' from Draco.

"I know but I found it hard to. Ever since Sirius…" He looked away. "Look. Can we not talk about this now? I can't think straight."

"No shit." Pansy whispered, causing Draco to unwillingly snicker.

"I know. I'm sorry it's just.. Ron and I are worried about you." Draco pulled away and mimicked retching, Pansy glancing over and covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"Yeah mate. You know we're here for you."

"Thanks Ron. I appreciate it."

"Pansy. I'm struggling to see your point here. Nothing in their conversation suggests I've 'seduced' Potter." He whispered over to her.

"Shh."

"Are...Do you still think Malfoy is up to something?" Weasley asked. Still? What was that supposed to mean?

Potter simply sighed. "No..Not anymore.." He ignored Pansy's glance, listening intently.

"Harry. What happened last night? Neville said when he heard you come back, it was one. I swear Snape could only keep you until eleven."

Draco held his breath. He couldn't give them away, would he? No, he wouldn't. However, he was unbelievably loyal to his friends...Oh god..

"Nothing happened." Two words that caused Draco's heart to pound with relief. Pulling away from the case, he smirked.

"Told you."

Pansy didn't move though, still listening intently.

"So how come you were up so late?" Granger asked, her voice drenched with worry.

"I needed to clear my mind. After we fought, I thought about what you guys said and...you're right. I should just leave Malfoy alone but…" Draco's eyes widened, his grip on the wooden shelf tightening.

"He looks so lonely, you know? So sad all the time and when we fight I.." What? What was he going to say? Why did he stop? Granger and Weasley exchanged a look. "You know what? Never mind. I'm just tired. Ignore what I said."

And that's when Pansy looked over to him with that look that said spill.

"Nothing. Happened." Draco hissed. She was really testing his patience. Pansy rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms, the female way of telling him she didn't believe him.

"What? Don't you trust me?" She pouted jokingly, causing Draco to sigh in frustration. "Okay then. If you don't tell me, I might as well go ask potter myself."

"No!" He exclaimed a little too loudly, causing the trio's heads to turn. Draco and Pansy ducked immediately.

"Did you hear something?" One voice said. Pansy and Draco exchanged a glance.

"I don't think so." Another said. It had to be Granger.

"I'll look." Oh no. Potter.

"You have to be so fucking dramatic don't you." Pansy spat/whispered.

"Me? This is your fault. You can't keep your nose out of anything.

"Oh. Yeah because you're so perfect."

The two began to bicker, drawing attention from the others at the library. The sight of two slytherins crouched down beside a bookshelf, quietly arguing was not something someone could just walk past.

"Just shut up for now. He's coming." Pansy hissed, clamping her hand around Draco's mouth as they lay low.

"There's two books missing. I swear these gaps weren't here before." Potter spoke. Draco rolled his eyes. Because no one ever borrowed books. This was a library after all.

"It was probably nothing." Just this once, Draco felt himself mentally thanking Granger.

"But what if someone was listening in?" Did the Weasel ever know when to shut it?

"Ron. I doubt that." Couldn't they just move back to their table? Draco began to point to their desk but she shook her head, keeping her surprisingly strong hand around his mouth. What was she thinking?

"Look around. Just to be sure." Say no. Say no.

"Fine. And I'm the paranoid one." Shit shit shit no.

But Pansy's grin said otherwise. Pulling him up, she pushed him up against the wall, her hand still around his mouth.

"Pansy. Let go." He tried to say, but his speech was muffled. The footsteps grew louder. What was she doing?! He began to push her away but she simply leaned in and whispered, "Trust me. Just this once." Sighing, he nodded. She'dbetter be knowing  
what she was could hear Potter near the corner, so close to seeing them. His breath was caught in his throat. Nope. This was a bad idea. He was going to pay for trusting her.

In the corner of his eye, he could only catch a glimpse of his shoes before feeling something press against his lips. Eyes widening, he was immediately filled with disgusted.

Pansy was...kissing him.

It was wet and sloppy and downright uncomfortable. It made him feel sick. It was practically incest. His body stiffened up.

As soon as he was able to process what was going on, he pushed her away. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" His whisper shouted, his fists clenched, shuddering in disgust.

She looked...satisfied though.

"Pansy. You'd better explain what the hell was going through your mind when you decided to do that or I swear to god I-"

"Did you see his face?" She interrupted.

It was inconceivable. What was she going on about? "Pansy. What you just did, I-"

"He looked upset. Pissed actually." Wait. What? Draco fell silent. Why would he get angry about that?

He then heard shuffling and voices, Pansy placing a finger on his lips to keep him quiet.

"Nothing. I just need to take a small nap. I have a headache."

"Do you want to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"No. I'm fine."

Pansy then wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. "Just go along with it. Look like you're interested in me. In love with me." She teased.

"That's asking the impossible." Draco said with an unamused expression.

"Just do it." She demanded, becoming frustrated. He knew she had to have some purpose so he cooperated as he wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Now I'm going to laugh like you said something really funny which you and I both know never happens."

"Why are you-" however he was cut off by pansy busting into a flirtatious laugh, lightly hitting his chest.

"You're so funny Draco." She commented as Potter walked past, glancing at them before stressfully running his fingers through his hair and continuing to walk.

"Did you catch that?" She whispered.

"You mean to say that...Potter's jealous?"

"Ding ding ding! Now that I've proven my point.." She immediately removed herself from Draco. "That was awful. Like kissing a brother." Wiping his lps, he shuddered.

"Never do that again." Draco sighed.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I've proved my point. He wasn't jealous before. He couldn't care less before but now, he clearly hated the idea. You can't tell me nothing happened." She was so fucking persistent.

"I'm not putting up with this anymore." He stated, walking over to their desk and grabbing his bag. Packing away his things, he slung his satchel over his shoulder.

"Oh I'm only teasing, Darling. You do like to be dramatic." Pansy inspected the red polish on her nails, making sure it was still in perfect condition.

"And you don't?"

"Well, I've learnt from the best." He watched as Pansy pursed her lips, holding back her laughter. Having enough, he turned around and left without another word, Pansy's cackles of laughter reaching his ears just before he left throughthe door.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Here's an update, finally. I might actually finish this one, I'm not sure. I hope you're enjoying it. It's quite slow, I know, but things are about to pick up so stay tuned**

 **Chapter 6**

As Harry paced hastily through the halls, clutching onto his worn, leather bag strap, his heart was pounding heavily. His breath was rapid and his cheeks were flushed. Whether it was from total humiliation or anger, he didn't really want to know. All he knew was that he had enough for today and everything would be better if he just lay in bed for god knows how long.

He could hear the heavy door of the library close, swallowing thickly as he had a feeling as to who it was. As if for confirmation, he turned his head to see, halting in his steps.

There he stood, running his fingers through his luxurious platinum hair, looking both ways before freezing, silver eyes set on Harry. The look sent shivers rippling through his spine, Harry's fingers clenching around his satchel strap. This was stupid. It was some stupid crush which couldn't even be qualified as a crush.

Everything about this situation was just plain stupid.

And for some reason none of them moved, as if both wanted to say something, unspoken words drifting in the air between them before Harry finally broke Malfoy's gaze, beginning to walk away. His heart throbbed painfully, teeth sinking into his lower lip as he paced quickly through the halls, refusing to look back.

The week went by rather quickly. Harry continued to go to Snape's detentions, actually finding aggressively scrubbing away at dirty potions cauldrons to be quite therapeutic. However, he made sure to not let Snape know that. This was meant to be a punishment after all. He'd leave feeling a little calmer and quietly make his way back to the common room to sit and either read a book or just stare absently into the flames.

Not once did he bump into Malfoy.

The fact left Harry feeling disappointed yet relieved all at once. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't deny the every time he left Snape's classroom, a large part of him hoped to see a blonde walking down the halls and notice him, for them to have some kind of encounter, good or bad. But what would he say? And that was where the relief came from. But the ratio of solace and disatisfaction was nowhere near even. It was like a yearning. He wanted Malfoy to notice him again.

Was this how Malfoy used to feel then? Was that why he always bothered Harry in previous years? To get a reaction? To get under his skin in a way only _he_ knew how? Did that bring some sort of satisfaction? Did Harry no longer satisfy him? The number of stupid questions only rose and each time Harry found himself thinking such things, he felt ashamed.

How could he be so self centred? Malfoy was probably just being a prick like he was to everyone else and self satisfaction might have had something to do with it, but he doubted he himself was largely involved. Getting his father sent away seemingly put things into perspective then.

What was he thinking? It was like he almost missed the guy when he had no reason to. It was all in his head. Malfoy was a bigot. Just because he finally got a taste on what a hard life was like doesn't mean he changed. Sure he's quieter but when he opens his mouth, nothing but prejudice comments and hurtful insults came out. Harry decided from then on that Malfoy didn't deserve his sympathy and to get over this purely physical attraction.

That was friday night.

The next day was saturday so no lessons and that meant that Harry could sleep in at last. He ended up waking up at seven in the morning. So much for a great night's sleep. Like every other night, Harry had slipped in and out of consciousness, always in a semi-dreaming state. One moment there was Cedric, the next there was Sirius and at one point his father was laughing and his mother screaming with Voldemort laughing wickedly. Needless to say he woke up feeling utterly disoriented and unslept.

So he got up. It was useless to try and sleep any longer and he was currently drenched in sweat so a shower it was.

Washed and clothed, he walked out of the dorm and common room and began to walk around the hogwarts grounds. It was early so he wasn't surprised to find the hallways empty. He roamed around, appreciating the wake of dawn on an early autumn's morning and the peace and quiet of the place before it would soon burst into life with countless students stampeding towards the great hall for breakfast.

As he walked, his thoughts wondered and inevitably, they returned to Malfoy, a character who hadn't been too present throughout this week. It was just to wonder as to whether he was okay. He didn't bother to look at his table anymore out of embarrassment of how he caught him and Pansy…

Oh what did it matter? He could kiss Pansy all he wanted. Malfoy didn't even have to be a part of his life anymore. He's just depressed and grieving. If he wasn't involved with Voldemort, then they didn't have to associate themselves with each other anymore. He should purely focus on getting to Voldemort, on defeating him instead of some school crush. It wasn't even a crush!

"Potter?"

Harry opened his eyes and turned his head, having to calm down very quickly in order to face whoever was talking to him however as his eyes fell on a young man who was very handsome and looked particularly charming in the light of autumn dawn, everything he had just told himself became null.

"Malfoy. Hi." Hi? Idiot.

"I'm not here to bother you for long I just want to say something quickly and be done with it." Harry noticed that he was keeping a distance, his posture formal, his tone straight and his expression lacking much interest and not even in a rude way. In a genuine, close to bored fashion.

Harry frowned slightly. "Okay."

Malfoy took a breath before looking Harry in the eyes. "Madame Pomfrey said you brought me to her."

Harry could feel himself go red. Oh god, did he overstep his boundaries? Did Malfoy somehow know about his thoughts? No that's ridiculous it's fine. But why else would he bring it up? He swallowed thickly but did his best to mask the chaos erupted in his head. "She did?"

"Yeah." He looked away briefly and took a deep breath. "I just want to say thank you."

Harry froze. He wasn't expecting that at all.

"So, thank you."

"Oh. Right uh...well yeah. Of course. No need to thank me."

"Yes there is."

"Okay." The two fell silent and Harry felt his heart grow warm and he let a small smile come through as he looked up at Malfoy. "You're welcome and don't worry. I haven't mentioned anything to anyone."

"Good."

And with that, Malfoy turned around and left without another word, leaving Harry to be slightly confused but touched all at once. His heart pounded shamelessly, his stomach squirming yet full of warmth and relief almost. However, there was a poignancy to that interaction that bothered him. He had said thank you. He had done his part and Harry his. There was no reason to interact anymore. Did that mean they're rivalry had come to a civil end? Just like that? All over?

Yes. And he should be nothing but glad.

Harry continued his day feeling quite at ease, or as at ease as he could, content with how things between him and Malfoy had become. There had seemed to be a mutual respect between them, an unspoken agreement to let the other one be and it was nice to spend a day with one less worry.

That evening, he had finished scrubbing the cauldrons, surprisingly so, having developed a routine to keep on top of the ones that had been recently dirtied, the old ones practically spotless and the task became just renewing their pristine state and he was done within the space of a couple hours.

"I'm finished, sir."

Snape looked up from his book, frowning deeper than usual. "Finished?" His tone was unconvinced.

"Yes."

Getting up, Snape whipped his cloak around, pacing over to the cauldrons and doing an inspection. He hummed deeply and pointed out certain things Harry missed, miniscule details, and stated that once he was done, he should go dust the cupboards. Harry sighed. There went his chances of getting off detention early. What was he to expect with Snape anyway? That prick.

And so Harry did as he was asked. He finished up the small details, picked up a cloth and worked his way around the ridiculously dusty cupboards. In fact, when he opened the first one and took out the books, he was bombarded by a wave of dust, causing him to hack uncomfortably. As he did his best to work through the books, dusting each one as well as the shelves, there was one that struck his eye. It was unbelievably tattered by the spine, the font of the title faded and worn, the pages tinted beige , close to brown. It was very old and for some reason, it piqued his interest. Subtly turning to see if Snape was looking, which he wasn't, he cracked open the book with slight difficulty and brushed off the dust clustered on the front page, sneezing and sniffling, his glasses fogged. Placing the book down, he removed his glasses and cleaned them off with his shirt before putting them back on and reading messy faded handwriting at the corner of the page:

 _ **Property of the Half-Blood Prince**_

The half blood prince? What was this?

"Slacking off, are you Potter?"

"No, sir," he replied through gritted teeth, putting the book down and dusting the cupboard before restacking the books. He'd be back later for that. It looked interesting. The half blood prince.

After a few more hours, Harry was finally able to leave, his clothes coated in dust, his eyes and throat sore and his glasses filthy. Making his way back to the dorms, he briefly casted a glance towards the great hall. Was Malfoy in there? That was where this strange, unwelcome affection for him begun. Harry knew he could never befriend him, it wouldn't work. They were on different sides however now that Lucius was imprisoned...No. It wasn't even a consideration. It was a shame though. Had he been sorted into slytherin, had things gotten off at a different start…

No. No, no, no. He was not going to begin mourning an unfulfilled friendship. They were enemies for a reason. Whether there was an unspoken truce between them was unclear but that would be as far as it got.

For now, anyway.

He made his way to the common room to find that the majority of people had gone to bed. The fire burned dimly however, he could see the shadow of a head staring into on his own. With a small smile, Harry sat beside him, knowing without having to look that it was Ron.

"Snape sure made the most of you," he said with a snort, coughing slightly as a reaction to Harry's dusty state.

"Yeah, I know. What a prick. I finished one task and he set me on cleaning out cupboards that probably haven't been touched in years." He didn't mention the book.

"Yeah, I can tell. You smell ancient." Both broke into brief laughter before sitting in silence.

The silence was calm, the faint pop and crackle of flames contributing to the tranquil atmosphere. There wasn't much to be said however both boys felt similar about their friendship. It felt like they were growing apart yet moments like these proved why they were such great friends in the first place.

"Harry?" Ron broke the silence, still staring ahead.

"Yeah?"

"I know things have been hard for you. Well, 'hard' is an understatement. What I mean to say is I haven't been the most understanding friend recently."

"Ron-" Harry began but stopped as Ron shook his head.

"No it's true. I haven't. I can't really imagine what it's like to be you at the moment but I want you to know that you can talk to me. About anything. Even if you're uncomfortable with sharing it with Hermione, I won't tell her anything. I just..you can trust me. Okay? And I'll listen."

Harry listened intently to Ron, feeling his oaky gaze resting on him as he spoke.

"Thank you." Harry said sincerely, his heart feeling warm and bursting with appreciation. He was so lucky to have Ron, to _still_ have Ron as a friend. "That means a lot." Lips breaking into a small smile, the two exchanged a small nod, an unspoken brotherly love shared between them without any hugs or words. They just knew.

"Anytime." Looking up at the clock, Ron yawned softly. "Well that's my cue. I'm off to bed. You coming?" Harry looked up at the time. It was close to midnight.

"No I think I'll stay up a little longer."

"Alright. Just don't stay in your own head for too long, okay?" and without needing an answer, Ron headed out of the common room, up into their dorm.

Harry looked at the clock and watched the handle strike midnight. Right. Standing up, he dusted himself off and quietly crept upstairs, hearing the light snores of everyone else in the room. Ron took no time to fall asleep at all. Grabbing his invisibility cloak and map, he quietly crept out, cringing as one of the boards croaked under his feet. He heard someone stir but nothing else. Leaving the dorm, he made his way to the potions classroom, checking his map to see where everyone was. Filch wasn't anywhere close. The coast was clear. When at the front of the door, he muttered ' _alohomora'_ the door clicking open and silently slipped inside, the door clicking quietly behind him. Taking off his cloak, he lit up the end of his wand, illuminating the room and walked over to the cupboard where he last saw the book. Unlocking the cabinet, he searched, remembering that he put it slightly at the back to avoid anyone else potentially taking it. Navigating the tiny space with his wand, light dusted upon the extremely tattered book and with dilegency, Harry removed it, satisfied with his success. It was now in his possession and no one would even notice.

Closing the cabinet, he heard something click, the door cracking open and immediately his heart began to race. Turning around, he didn't have enough time to pick up his cloak before seeing Malfoy stand at the end of the room with a look of confusion. Harry frowned slightly. What was he doing here? (Yet, although he'd refuse to admit it, a part of him was almost happy to see him).

"What are you doing?" he asked, his low voice slightly crooked and perhaps attractive even but yet again, Harry was not going to think like that. His wand shone in Harry's face.

"Can you not shine that directly in my eye?"

"Yours isn't any better."

"Did you close to door behind you? People might hear us."

"Obviously. What do you take me for? An idiot?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Ha ha," Malfoy responded, drly.

"Alright, you know it's me. You don't need to shine that in my face anymore." It became uncomfortable, the light almost blinding from both ends of their wands.

Malfoy stepped further into the classroom. "Fine," he said, looking around. "I'll turn mine off if you turn yours off too. We'll get caught if there's too much light."

Harry lowered his wand. He was right. "Fine," he turned off his wand and the two of them were subject to darkness.

"So what are you doing here?"

"None of your business. You?"

"Same here."

The two were reduced to darkness, standing at either end of the room. Harry wasn't sure what to do. Honestly, he felt a little awkward. He wanted to say something but there was nothing to say.

"You looked like you were in quite the huff the other day," Malfoy spoke. He heard shuffling. Probably doing what he needed to do. How though? It was so dark, he could barely see.

"What do you mean?"

Malfoy muttered something and the end of his wand shone. Harry looked in his direction.

"Look away or leave. This doesn't concern you." Harry looked away but for some reason he didn't want to leave. However, he had what he had. He had no other reason to be in here.

 _He could be doing something suspicious though. He does sneak around a lot._

 _Yes but so do you._

"Right, I'll leave you to it."

"Wait, I haven't answered your question." He heard shuffling. Harry was tempted to look however, he felt like that would be unjust. Besides, they'd have to trade information and there was something about this book that he wanted to keep secret. "Don't leave just yet."

Harry felt his throat tighten slightly, his heart race. What was he doing? And it was odd. His tone was commanding but soft. He heard him whisper something, a small victory and the lights went out again. Harry had no idea where he was now.

"I saw you in the library and you stormed out. You looked quite bothered. What was that about?"

Harry felt himself go bright red. He was so relieved that it was dark.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious." He heard him mutter something. "I've locked the door. No one will come in and interrupt so you can start answering."

What was he doing? This was very odd. The look he gave him when they left the library that day had so many mixed messages. How would he answer without looking like an idiot? He wasn't even sure himself.

"If I answer this, you've got to answer something in return." He had a couple questions himself. For example, what did he mean by what he said that night when he found him drunk? Why was he drunk to begin with?

"Deal."

"Right, well, I saw something that bothered me and I wanted to leave. My turn. Why were you drunk the night I found you?"

A brief silence. "I felt like it. My turn."

"No, no. That's not even a proper answer."

"Well neither was yours."

"Alright fair enough," Harry admitted. Was he sure this wasn't some odd dream?

"What did you see?"

This was harder to answer. "Why should I answer to you? How do I know you won't just start spreading gossip?"

A small chuckle. "Come on, Potter. You have enough dirt on me for that to be a stupid idea. Let's agree that whatever is said in here stays in here."

"Why are we even doing this?"

"You got anything better and more exciting waiting for you?"

Harry couldn't come up with a response. His tongue was tied and his heart was pounding.

"That's what I thought. Now, what did you see?"

"I saw two people doing something that frustrated me. My turn. What did you mean when you told me that you'd be okay if I noticed you when you wanted to be noticed?"

A silence. "Fuck…" he muttered. "I hoped you'd forget that."

"Answer the question, Malfoy."

"Okay, okay. Just..promise me that we will not repeat a word of this, even to each other outside. I think it's fair to say we both want to get some things off our chest to clear this...odd tension."

So that's why. It was a clever plan, quite mature of Malfoy as well. He wouldn't have seen this coming from him of all people. So he felt the tension too…

"Alright. Promise."

"Okay. Good. Well then, what I meant was that this year, I can't be bothered with this stupid rivalry between us. To be perfectly honest, I didn't want a rivalry to begin with. I wanted nothing more than to be your.." he paused. "Your friend."

Harry said nothing.

"So when we got off at the wrong foot, I wanted to gain your attention the only way I knew how. To bother you. And I loved seeing the way I could get under your skin like no one else could but...I approached things the wrong way. The only thing I knew how to do was to push you away. I wanted you to get back at me, to pay attention to me, to become...for me to take up as much of your thoughts as you did to me. Only then would I be satisfied. That's what I meant."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Malfoy's tone remained monotonous, formal, unfazed pardoning the small gaps in his speech. He could feel him emotionally detaching himself from this entire experience. All he wanted was Harry's attention, a friendship perhaps but it all seemed irrational. However, he completely understood where he was coming from. That was what things were like now except Harry being in Malfoy's shoes.

"I see."

Malfoy cleared his throat. "Now tell me. Who did you see?"

"You know who I saw, Malfoy, don't pretend." He heard something move. It was him.

"I know but I want to hear you say it." His voice seemed closer.

"I saw you."

"And?"

"And Pansy." He swallowed thickly. He felt like such a fool. At least Malfoy's explanation made sense. It had no obvious hint of romantic intent. God, he felt like an idiot.

"And what? It made you jealous?" He was taunting him. He felt closer. Harry was tempted to step back but his entire body refused to.

"N-no. No it didn't."

Fuck, he stuttered.

"You stuttered."

"So what? That doesn't mean anything?"

"Were you jealous?"

"Why were you drunk?"

"Because life is pretty shit at the moment. You should try it sometime."

Another silence between them. Harry wasn't sure how much longer he could take this tension.

"Yes."

"What?"

Harry gritted his teeth. He knew exactly what he meant. God, he was a pain in the ass. "Yes. I was jealous. Happy?"

He could practically feel his smirk. Arrogant twat. "Why were you jealous?"

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question?"

"Do you have anything left to ask?"

Harry couldn't think of anything to say. All his questions were already answered.

"I don't understand why I was jealous none of it makes sense to even me."

He felt something touch his arm. He was so close. When did he get so close?

"Don't worry. What happens in here stays in here. Okay?" He felt his voice in his ear, soft and calm and it caused him to shudder slightly.

"Okay."

"Okay."

And with that, he felt soft fingers cup the back of his neck, running through his hair. He closed his eyes. It was like a heaven he didn't think he would experience.

"I guess I can assume by you not resisting that you feel the same way I do."

Harry wasn't sure how much longer his heart would stay in his chest, beating in his ears, causing him to involuntarily shake.

"You feel the same?" he whispered and he felt a nose against his, a breath against his lips, a hand cupping his cheek.

Malfoy said nothing. He didn't need to because a second later, Harry felt the gap between their lips close, a soft, careful kiss filled with hesitance and uncertainty. Malfoy may have been able to feign confidence but Harry could feel his nerves. So, he wasted little time and kissed him back, their lips dancing, his hand lightly gripping the blonde's jumper, another on his waist. They pulled each other closer, their bodies pressed against each other and refusing to pull away, their kiss going from hesitant to passionate, Malfoy's fingers gently gripping his locks, Harry hungrily tasting his sweet lips, adoring how soft they felt, adoring the feeling of his tongue gently slipping in and out of his own mouth, his body warm, heated, never wanting to pull away.

At that moment, countless thoughts rushed through his head. What was he doing? What would this mean? Why did this feel so oddly right? Why did he never want to pull away? He hoped this would never end. Oh, he smelt very nice. Harry probably smelt awful, being so dusty. Would things escalate?

However, despite the chaos in his head, his lips and body moved as if on autopilot, savouring every moment of this while he could, knowing that it was unlikely to happen again.

How long they spent together, they didn't know, losing track of time and making up for all the pent up frustration having built up between them. Eventually, someone pulled away and the only sound was their light breaths, their faces still close, their fingers intertwined, forehead pressed against each other.

"What-"

"Not. A. Word." Draco whispered, gently placing a finger over Harry's lips, causing him to swallow anything he might've said.

And with that, Draco pulled away from Harry completely, his footsteps becoming fainter and fainter before the door cracked open.

"Wait."

But he wasn't loud enough or perhaps Malfoy ignored him completely, suspending Harry in complete darkness.


End file.
